Choices of Heroes
by Anthony1
Summary: Second in ‘Defenders of the Night’ series. Daisuke and his friends are going to try to make a difference. As they do this they’ll have to make choices. Unfortunately, they may regret some of those choices that they’ll be force to make.
1. Family Reunion

As I promise people, here is the starting chapter to my next saga of the 'Defenders of the Night' series. I like to thank all those who reviewed my previous story and speaking of the story, it would probably be wise to read the story 'Genesis of a Hero' so you can understand this better. Not wanting to waste anymore of your reader's time, here is the story and as always, I don't own digimon.

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Choices of Heroes

_Family isn't about whose blood you have. It's about who you care about.  
__Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park, Ike's Wee Wee, 1998_

Chapter 1:  
Family Reunion

A Month Later…

In a secluded and unknown location, a group of scientist worked in a large laboratory working on some project. "What is the status on our subject?" asked one of the lab technicians.

"It looks good. Vitals are stable and nothing seems out of the norm."

"Make sure that it stays that way or it'll be our heads if this subject doesn't make it." Looking up they saw a large tube filled with some kind of green liquid and inside it was a figure with wire connected to it. "Whatever the higher ups have planned to do with this thing it'll definitely be something to see."

-/-/-/-/-

"Man, I am so bored. There has to be something interesting to do."

"Quit you complaining Takeru. It's starting to get annoying." retorted Daisuke as he sat in a chair reading a book while Takeru was sitting in another chair with lying against the desk. It had been a month since Daisuke and the others have encountered anyone associated with the Takenaka Corporation and during that time not much as happen to them with the exception that Daisuke's house was now completely redone thanks to their new friend Samuel Bentson.

The moment of calm was soon broken when a knock on the door was heard. "Come on in, the door's open."

Opening the door, it was revealed Hikari with a few grocery bags. "Could someone please help me with these bags?" Quickly coming to her aid both men went over and each grabbed a bag and took them to the kitchen.

"Why did you even bother to go grocery shopping Hikari when I don't need food to sustain me?" To help solidify his statement Daisuke opened the fridge and pulled out a cup of some red liquid. Doing a small salute, he began to drink the liquid down to the disgust of his friends.

"Oh man, that's gross. Do you actually have to drink that stuff in front of us?" asked a sicken Hikari.

Wiping the blood from his lips Daisuke looked at her in confusion. "What's the matter? It's only pig's blood?"

"Yeah, but that still doesn't mean we have to see you drink it?" Ignoring her comments he grabbed the newspaper that was brought along with the groceries and with his drink in hand went back to his seat.

"This has to be one of the most boringness times of my life." muttered Takeru once again. "Hikari, please tell me you know of something for us to do."

"Sorry but nothing exciting has happen with me either. Even finding work is hard to find. If things keep going the way it has been I may get evicted from my apartment."

"Well, if that does happen you could always room up with Daisuke. I'm sure he wouldn't mind that idea, wouldn't you Daisuke? …Daisuke?"

Turning around they saw that Daisuke was there in his seat eyes glued on the paper. "Hey Daisuke, is everything okay?"

Snapping out his trance, he looked over to them. "What? Sorry about that you guys. I guess I must have spaced out there for a second." Getting up he tossed the paper into the trash and grabbed his coat as he headed for the door.

"I'm going out for a while. Call me only if it's an emergency."

"But Daisuke, the sun's still out. So how are you expecting to go anywhere without getting burned to a crisp?" inquired Hikari.

"I'll remember to keep the top of my car up." With that, he walked out of his very own place.

"Was it just me or was there something not right with Daisuke? What could have possibly made him acted like that?" Going over to the trash, Hikari pulled out the newspaper and turned to the last page that Daisuke was reading. After scanning it, she came across a particular article.

'FAMOUS CELEBERTY TO WED VIRTUAL UNKNOWN WOMAN'. Below that headline was a picture of what had to be the couple to be wed but what really caught her interested was who the woman in the picture was. _"Oh my lord, this is a surprise. Hopefully Daisuke won't react badly to this surprising news."_

-/-/-/-/-

"That news was definitely unexpected." muttered Daisuke to himself as he drove to the nearby park. Parking in heavily shaded area he looked to where the paper said that the wedding was supposed to take place.

From his position he couldn't see all that was happening but it didn't matter as he caught sight at what he was looking for. Standing there was a lady in her mid twenties with long brown hair that reached her shoulders and brown eyes. _"She's just like how I remembered her. I'm glad to see that she has been able to get on with her life after what she's gone through."_

For a while all he did was watch her and seeing how happy she was until he saw a man walk up to her. He had blonde hair that reached his neck gray colored eyes and was wearing a black business suit. When he saw the man wrap his arms around the woman Daisuke got this uneasy feeling. It was as though there was more than meets the eye to the man.

He wouldn't have time to think about it any further as two figures that had their entire bodies covered in some kind of tarps run in, knocked the man down as they grabbed the woman and run off with her. Daisuke was about to go in and try to help but quickly stepped back as the sunlight began to burn his skin.

Not wanting to just stand by and watch this happen he looked for an opportunity to intervene and when he saw that they were heading to another shaded area not to far away he saw his chance. Moving quickly he ran to the location that they ran off to see that the two of them was trying to force the women into the back of a van. Without wasting another moment he went at the two men who tossed their hostage into the van when they saw him coming.

They immediately tried to double team him but Daisuke dodged the first strike and delivered a punch to the following person. He continued to avoid his two opponents' assault and as he was doing so he managed to rip off one of the men's hoods to discover that the man was actually a vampire. Seeing that their identities were revealed the other man took his hood off to confirm that he was a vampire as well. Having this new bit of information it gave Daisuke the opportunity to just put an end to the fight.

Allowing the both of them to come closer he grabbed their shirts and by using their momentum to toss them out of the protection of the shade and into the sunlight. The reaction was almost instant as the two of them were engulfed in flames as their bodies turned to ash.

Turning around he realized that the woman was still in the van. Opening the door he saw that she was lying on the van floor and wasn't moving. Checking to see if she was okay he discovered that she had only passed out.

Suddenly the woman's eyes slightly open and look straight at him. "Daisuke?" Before anything could happen Daisuke heard voices of people coming. By the time they arrived he was already gone.

"Oh thank goodness. I'm so glad that you're safe." exclaimed the apparent fiancée as he gave the woman an embrace but the only thing that the woman was thinking of was did she actually see what she thought she saw.

-/-/-/-/-

Later That Night...

After leaving the park Daisuke returned to his place and spoke to no one since he arrived. Now he was all alone drinking his cup of blood. "So, you went to go see her?" Glancing over he saw Hikari leaning against the wall. Walking over she sit herself in the seat opposite of him and for what felt like an eternity neither one said anything. Hikari would be the one to break the silence.

"You made quite the impression today. It has been talked about on nearly every news station about how two unknown men tried to kidnap a celebrity's fiancée but were stop by an unidentified savior." Nothing was said as she allowed what was said to sink in.

"Are you going to tell her that it was you?"

"...No." was Daisuke's simple answer.

"Why not? Don't you think that she deserves to know the truth?" Not answering her question he simply grabbed his cup blood and took a drink.

"For damn sakes Daisuke she's your sister." Without warning Daisuke slammed his cup down onto the desk, nearly breaking it.

"Do you think that I don't know that? I would love to go to my sister, who I have not seen for almost eight years and say that I'm back. But I can't because of this." Pointing to his face he changed it to his vampire form before changing right back.

"My sister and I did not always get along but we viewed each other as equals. I want her to remember me as the brother who she grew up with and not someone who drinks...drinks this!" Being overcome by anger he tossed his cup of pigs' blood at the wall which caused it to shatter and splattered across the wall. "I'm going on patrol. Remember to lock up when you leave." With that he left, leaving Hikari alone to wonder what would become of this.

-/-/-/-/-

A Day Later...

"Excuse me, are you Jun Motomiya?" Turning around the woman in question looked to the person who asked.

"Yes I am. May I ask who you are?"

"It's me, Hikari Kamiya." Getting to her feet the woman now identified as Jun stood wide eyed in front of Hikari. "Oh my goodness, it's you."

The two then shared a quick hug. "Look at you, you've sure changed since the last time we saw each other. How long has it been since we last saw each other?"

"About ten years I believe." Not wanting to discuss what she wanted to see out in the open, Hikari spoke up. "Listen; is there a more secluded place so we can talk?"

"Yeah, I know of a place."After a half an hour the two of them reached Jun's luxurious hotel room. "Make yourself comfortable. Both of my parents are out touring the city so we'll have the place to ourselves for a while." For sometime neither one said anything knowing how to start the conversation. Finally it would be Hikari to start it up.

"How are you doing Jun? I heard about what happen to you yesterday and I was wondering how you were coping?"

"Well, with all things considering I'm doing okay. I was just fortunate that I was saved by some mysterious person." Unknown by her was that Hikari had a slight nervous look on her face. "Putting that aside why don't you tell me how it feels like to be getting married to a wealthy man?"

"It's okay but I just wish that my brother was here to share this."

Putting on his best acting face, Hikari played along. "I heard about what happened to him. I'm sorry about your loss." She wanted so badly to tell Jun that her brother was back but she knew that Daisuke would never forgive her if she did that.

"Thank you, I appreciate it. If Daisuke was here he would be telling me to not to be so worried and that everything will be okay. That was always like him. Making sure that those he cared for were okay. I could use some of that right now."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, it really started about six months after Daisuke's death. I would receive these disturbing letters from this anonymous person. Not long after I was cornered by two muggers. I thought that it was the end for me until I was saved by Jeffery. We would later start going out which lead us to become a couple and finally when he proposed marriage I accepted. However, those mysterious letters have still continued to come and with what happen yesterday I'm not sure about anything."

To help put her friend at ease Hikari placed a comforting hand on Jun's knee. "Hey now, you shouldn't allow yourself to get overwhelmed by all this. I may not be Daisuke but I believe that he would say to relax and everything will be okay in the end."

Wiping rid of the unseen tears from her eyes, Jun put on a weak but grateful smile. "Thank you Hikari, I appreciate what you have done for me today. It's a real shame that Daisuke passed away since we could've probably become sister-in-laws."

That comment took Hikari by complete surprise. "W-What do you mean by that?"

"It's too late for it to happen so don't worry about it. Let's talk about something else and take our minds off of our worries." For the next couple of hours the two of them talked about a number of things such as bringing up the past and what they have done since the last time they met. However during that time Hikari was wondering what to do when Daisuke hears about this.

-/-/-/-/-

The sun had set only an hour ago and Hikari was already at Daisuke's place ready to talk about what happened with Jun. Using the key that she was given, she entered and immediately spotted Daisuke sitting at his desk while reading the paper. "So you went to see my sister did you?" asked Daisuke from out of nowhere.

"How did you know?" questioned a surprised Hikari.

Putting the paper down Daisuke looked at her with stare that lacked any emotion which caused Hikari to become cautious. "I can smell the same sent of my sister on you. I guess you can thank my vampire smelling for that. You didn't tell her about me did you?"

"No, I didn't and why do you care if I did?" Removing his glare he put his casual face back on. "I care because I want my sister to remember me as the brother that she grew up with and not one who will become the human torch if he steps foot into the sun."

Reaching into her purse Hikari pulled out a small tape recorder. "Well, if that is your choice then you can at least listen to this." Putting the tape recorder on the desk she slid it over to him. "I figured that you would want to know what has been happening with your sister so I recorded the discussion that we had."

Getting out what she wanted to do, Hikari turned around and headed for the door. "If you do decide to listen to that recording, listen real carefully to it. There could be some things that may hear some real interesting things. Now if you excuse me, I have a friend's wedding to get ready for."

With that said she left leaving Daisuke alone to ponder on whether or not to listen to the tape recorder. Finally coming to a decision he reached over and pressed the play button. Immediately he heard the voice of his sister.

"It's okay but I just wish that my brother was here to share this." For the new few hours all that he did was listen to the recording of the one person that he wish to see again.

-/-/-/-/-

"Tell me again why you want me to do this search?" asked Takeru. It was the day after Daisuke was given the tape recording and after listening to it he immediately called Takeru over to help him in figuring out something.

"Because I believe that there is more to what happened with my sister then simple coincidence. All I need is something to solidify my theory."

After nearly an hour of searching, Takeru was able to discover something. "Well, isn't this interesting?"

"What did you find?" Walking over he peered at the computer over Takeru's shoulder.

"I went online and cross-reference everything that has happen with your sister to see if there were any similarities with anyone else and look at what I came across." Clicking on one of the links it went to a newspaper clipping that said, 'LOCAL GIRL DISAPPEARS WITHOUT A TRACE'.

Scrolling down further it showed that it had a picture of the apparent girl that the article was talking about. Finding nothing useful he continued to look through the information and as they were doing that, Daisuke was trying to figure out was the connection between these people was.

"Come on Daisuke, this is pointless. What do you expect to find anyways?" Ignoring Takeru's comment Daisuke continued to search and finally he found what he was searching for. "You asked and you stall receive. Take a look at this."

Pointing to a picture to another newspaper clipping it had a little note at the bottom that said, 'Missing bride to be not found. Fiancée, wanted for questioning also disappears without a trace.' "So what, I don't see how this is different from any of the others that we saw."

"It is different and the reason is that the man in the picture with the missing girl looks just like the one who's going to be marrying my sister."

Looking at the aforementioned man, Takeru let out a grasp of surprise. "That's Impossible. By the date that's on this clipping he would have to be over a hundred years old. There's no way that he and this man are the same person."

"You're wrong about that. There is a way but we have no time for that since we have to get moving?" "What are you talking about?" Heading for the door Daisuke grabbed his coat and a few other necessary items. "We have a wedding to attend."

-/-/-/-/-

"I can hardly believe that the day has finally arrived. By the end of today I will become a married woman." squealed Jun as she was getting prepared for her wedding.

"Calm down Jun, we heard you the last five times." exclaimed Hikari who was there to keep company.

"Your friend's right honey." added Mrs. Motomiya with her two cents. "If you keep this up you'll worry yourself to death.

Shaking off the feeling of fear, Jun put on a happy face. "You're right mom. This is supposed to be a day of joy so let's get myself married."

The ceremony was a spectacular site as the whole church decor helped to set the mood of the event. Soon the wedding march started and Jun was walked down the aisle by her father and was left at the end her soon to be husband, Jeffery. Clearing his throat, the priest got himself ready to start the ceremony.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered her today to unit this man and this woman in holy matrimony. If there is anyone who knows why these should not be wed speak now or forever hold your peace."

No sooner than those words were said, all of the lights were turned off with the only light source being a few spotlights. "Ladies and gentlemen, sorry about the interruption but if everyone would please leave the building with the exception Jeffery Tano it would be greatly appreciated." spoke a voice through the speakers. With some confusion the guests began to leave but as this was going on Hikari went off and hid to see what this was all about.

"This is totally unexpected." exclaimed Jun who was one of the few people still in the building. "I don't know what's going on but I'll leave you alone until you're done." She started to walk away only to be stopped by Jeffery. "Sorry, but you're not going anywhere." Jeffery replied with a emotionless voice.

Snapping his fingers the eight remaining guests that was inside the church went in groups of two to each exit as they stood guard with their faces going vamp.

Not liking the feeling that she was getting from the situation, Jun began to get a little worried. "What is going on? Jeffery, what is the meaning of this?"

Pulling her closer to him, Jeffery wrapped his arm around her neck. "Okay, whoever you are you better show yourself now or I swear I'll break this girl's neck." To show that he meant it he squeezed Jun's neck to the point where she could hardly breathe.

"You're really a class act you know that?' spoke a voice in the shadows that no one but Hikari and Jun knew who it belonged to. "I mean, you have to be good if you have been able to do this for over a hundred years." Without warning two of the vampires were staked and turned to dust. "Getting close to a girl so you can take their life force to keep yourself young and then disappearing before you're caught. Come on, that has to take talent."

Obviously that just fed into Jeffery's ego. 'Why thank you. I must say that I am impressed. Never in all the time has that I have done this no one been able to figure it out." Shortly after, another vamp was dusted. "So, how did you happen to get close to the girl that you're currently got a hold of?"

"Ha, she had to be my easiest prey and it's all started with her brother's death." Right when that was said a fourth vamp was taken out. "When I read about his death I knew that his sister would be in the right state of mind for me to get close to her. All it took were some mysterious letters and for me to rescue her from a mugging that I set up and I had her in the palm of my hands. Now why don't you be so kind as to step into the light and show yourself?"

Nothing happened for a while as everyone waited for the unknown guest. It wasn't until the sound of footsteps that they caught a glimpse of the instructor that no one but Hikari and a very shocked Jun knew about.

"So you were the one that has been bothering us. However, the question is why would you even bother to save this woman?" It was then that Jeffery got a good look at his opposition. "I know who you are. You're Jun's dead brother. But there's no way that you can still be alive." Looking at him Daisuke just gave him a smirk.

"Well, that would be true." To their surprise, Daisuke's face went vamp. "But as you can see I found a way around that problem." With that he threw a stake at one of the approaching vampires. He wouldn't have time to think about it as the three remaining vampires went after him.

Moving quickly he was able to avoid the majority of their assaults but as things went on he was slowly being overcome by them. Finally they got the best of him as two of them grabbed him from behind to allow the other to beat him. "Hey you two, heads up."

Turning to the sound of the voice they saw that it was Hikari running at them with a bowl filled some kind of liquid. Knowing what it was Daisuke quickly got out of the way just as Hikari tossed the liquid on the two vamps.

The reaction was almost immediate as their bodies began to burn up until they finally combusted into dust. "Holy water, you got to love it." Using this distraction to his advantage Daisuke got behind the last remaining vampire and with a quick twist his neck was broken which took care of him.

With nothing left standing in his way Daisuke slowly walked towards Jeffery who was backing up with Jun still in his clutches. "Now with that little distraction out of the way let's get back to business. I'll give you only one chance at this, hand over my sister or you'll be in for a world of pain."

Right when he took a step forward he quickly stepped back as Jeffery put a cross in front of him. "I guess the myth about vampire hating crosses is true."

Becoming more confident he began to walk forward with Daisuke taking the same amount of steps back. "This is an interesting predicament that we have here. The question that needs be ask is what should I do with you two now? Maybe I should let you watch as I take your sister's life with you being unable to do anything to stop me."

Just when it seemed as though he was about to take her life he got a light tap on his shoulder. Turning around he spotted Takeru with a bat in hand. "Batter up." Swinging he made contact with Jeffery's head that sent him flying back as well as losing his grip on Jun. "I guess all those times at the batting cages as a kid really paid off."

Getting back to his feet Jeffery stared at everyone with hatred in his eyes. "This has gone on long enough. I'll make you pay for getting in my way." Without warning, his right hand became all wrinkled. Shortly after, the rest of his body began to get old to the point that he was a huge walking hard shell. "Oh no, I'm starting to revert to my old body. I must find a new life force before it's too late."

"I don't think so." Coming from behind was Daisuke with his collapsible sword in hand. Before Jeffery could react, he ran in and cut his sword right through him so quickly that it seemed as though he didn't even hit. However, he in fact did.

It looked as though nothing happened until the upper half of Jeffery's body came clean off and fell to the floor. Since his whole body was now so brittle that when it hit the ground it smashed into a powdery ash with the other half following shortly after.

Walking over Daisuke saw that in the ash was Jeffery's head. "Here is something that you can take with you to hell." Placing his foot on the head he stepped down and smashed it to dust. "Don't mess with my family."

Looking up he saw Takeru and Hikari helping Jun to her feet. You could cut the tension with a knife as brother and sister made eye contact. Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a small metal ball. Throwing it to the ground it released a cloud of smoke. When the smoke vanished there was no sign of Daisuke, there by leaving the three of them to wonder what to do now.

-/-/-/-/-

The Next Day...

'FAMOUS MAN MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARS. NO CLUES ON THE CAUSE.' That was on the headlines for many of the newspapers the day after from what happened at the church. Fortunately Hikari and Takeru were able to come up with a reasonable story which was that Jeffery suddenly got cold feet and ran off. Also since then Daisuke hasn't in contact with anyone, not wanting to be with anyone.

"So how much longer are you going to hide there Hikari?" Daisuke exclaimed without turning around.

Just as he guessed Hikari came out from behind the wall. "You know that enhanced vampire sense of smell and hearing can really get on people's nerves."

Smiling slightly, Daisuke got to the matter at hand. "Let's just skip the small talk and get to the point. What did you tell Jun?"

"I told her the truth. That is was really you who saved her. On the subject of how you were still alive and how your face changed, well Takeru and I were a little vague but otherwise she went for it. By now she has probably told both your parents." The both of them didn't say anything, neither one knowing what to say. Finally it would be Hikari to break the silence.

"Why are you doing this to yourself Daisuke? Just go ahead and see them. I mean they already know that you're 'alive' so why not talk to them?"

"They may now know that I'm back but that doesn't mean that I want to be back in their lives. I mean, I have all these new things happening in my life and all the things that bump in the night like the Takenaka Corporation that will be coming after me and I don't want to put my family in harm's way because my enemies are trying to get to me."

"Why don't you allow us to decide that for ourselves?" asked a new voice. Looking at where the voice came from they saw Jun by the door and she wasn't the only one as right behind her were both their mother and father.

"After Jun told her parents our story they came to me to find where you lived. I guess I forgot to tell you that." said Hikari with a smirk on her face. "I'll leave the three alone so you can catch up." With that she left leaving Daisuke alone with his family.

"I guess that I should start at the beginning." Daisuke remarked with a sheepish tone in his voice.

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That ends this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you enjoyed reading it and made you want to see what I have next.for this story. Now, if you be so kind as to leave a review about what you like or disliked about the chapter and if you want to leave a question then go ahead and I'll try my best to answer it. 


	2. Darkness or Light

Here it is readers. Here is the next chapter to my 'Choices of Heroes' story. I want to say thanks to all those who reviewed the first chapter. I truly appreciate it. Now, not to waste anymore of your time, here is the chapter and like always, I don't anything of digimon except for the plot that I'm using.

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_A weak man has doubts before a decision; a strong man has them afterwards.  
__Karl Kraus (1781-1832)_

Chapter 2:  
Darkness or Light

It seemed to be a peaceful night in the city of Kyoto but that wouldn't last long as two mysterious men began to sneak around. "Do you think that we should be doing this?" questioned one of the men to his partner.

"Oh come on, this is one of the most loaded places in the entire city. There's no telling what kind of stuff we can swipe. Now let's get going." Moving quickly the two men climbed over the fence and ran across the courtyard where they reached the building. After being able to get one of the windows upon they climbed in.

With no sigh of protection they snuck from room to room looking for where the most valuable items would be. At last they entered a room that had what seemed to be rare items and on the far wall was a glass casing with several trinkets. "See, what I told you. We'll get rich once we sell this stuff to the highest bidder."

Walking more into the room the two of them went to the case but stopped when the lights suddenly turned on. "Pardon me, do you have an appointment?" Turning back they saw a brown hair man with a black coat on. "Correct me if I'm wrong but don't you usually have to get an invite by the owner to come into their home?"

Not giving him a response both men went at the man to prevent him from interfering. Despite trying their best neither one could lay a hand on him. Getting fed up the man quickly knocked out one of the men, leaving it one on one. "I've had enough of this." Reaching into his coat the man pulled out a gun. "I may not know who you are but I'll make sure that you'll pay for interfering in my plans."

Pulling the trigger the gun was fired. However, it would prove futile as the man moved out of the way and got in front of the thief. "W-What are you? There is no way that you could've gotten away from that shot."

"Let's just say that I'm no ordinary man." Before the thief had a chance to fire his gun again the man punched him right in the face. The hit was so strong that it causes him to go flying back and go crashing into the glass casing, breaking it on impact.

"Excellent work." a voice spoke from outside the room. Soon four policemen entered the room and handcuffed the two unconscious thieves. "That was an impressive showing you did there my friend." spoke Samuel as he walked into the room, expecting the surroundings. "I must say that you did some amazing work here Daisuke. Unfortunately, you didn't do it without causing some damage." He pointed to the destroyed glass case and the wall where there was now a bullet hole in it.

"Sorry about that, I guess I got a little carried away but thankfully it helped to prevent the robbery that you were told about to occur. That was why you ask me to keep watch making sure that didn't happen." retorted Daisuke with some embarrassment in causing the damage to the display case.

"But of course. It's a good thing that you were able to this on your own since your two friends went on vacation. I guess I was worried over nothing."

Walking over to the remains of the glass case, Daisuke went to see if any of the items were damaged. Luckily, it appeared as though nothing was broke and he was done with it until something caught his eye. Picking it up, he saw that it was a necklace with a pendent that was a circle that had an 'x' shape symbol on it and another metal strip going down the center. In the exact center there was a red diamond shape jewel in the middle. The pendent was connected to a metal chain that was long enough that it could go on by simply putting it over your head. "Hey Samuel, what is this thing?"

"You mean that necklace? To be honest I'm not really sure. I came upon it on one of my trips in Asia and when for some reason when I saw it I had to get it."

"You don't say?" pondered Daisuke. "Do you mind if I have this?"

"Well, I don't know. I did have that thing for a couple of years but what the hell take it. We'll just call it payment for what you've done."

Glancing down one last time at the necklace, Daisuke stuffed it into his coat pocket. "Thanks Samuel, I really appreciate this." _"In more ways than one if what I think about this necklace is true."_

-/-/-/-/-

Three Days Later…

"Man, its sure good to be back." "I'll have to agree with you Takeru." said Hikari.

The two of them had just returned from their vacation and were now taking a taxi over to Daisuke's place. "I hope that nothing bad has been happening while we were gone." "Hey, don't worry yourself over nothing Hikari. Daisuke can handle anything that comes his way. Besides, if anything really serious did happen he would've contacted us."

They soon arrived to their destination and entered the house to see that no one was inside. "Is he even here?" Peering out the window Takeru could see Daisuke's car. "His car is still here so that means he has to be here somewhere."

Searching from room to room neither one of them could find Daisuke and just when they were about to give up Hikari saw that there was someone in the backyard. Walking over she saw that the man was Daisuke but what really surprised her was that he was standing openly in the sunlight. "Oh my goodness, what do you think you're doing out here without any cover? Get back inside before you burst into flames."

She pulled at his arm to get him inside but he wouldn't move. It was then that she realized that Daisuke wasn't being set on fire, he wasn't even smoking. This was definitely out of the norm. "What's going on here Daisuke? There is no way that you can be out in the open without becoming a pile of dust."

He turned his head to her and smiled. "It's quite simple Hikari." With that said he walked back to the house with Hikari following close by. When they entered it was then that Takeru discovered what just occurred. "Okay, correct me if I'm wrong but don't vampires, such as you usually become the human torch if they're out in the sun?"

"That would be the case Takeru if it wasn't for this." Reaching from underneath his shirt he pulled out the same necklace that he got from Samuel. "It is because of this necklace you guys."

From what they could tell, Takeru and Hikari didn't see anything special about the necklace. "What about it? I mean it doesn't look all that special."

"That's where you're wrong you guys. This is the necklace of Asmara and legend said that if a vampire wears it they will become invulnerable to anything. A perfect example would be standing directly in sunlight."

By the looks that were on his two friends' faces they still didn't understand. He figured that they need a further example. "Takeru, do you mind handing me that item on the table?"

Doing as he was asked he went to the table to get the requested item. When he got there he was shocked at what Daisuke was asked him to get. "Are you sure that you want this Daisuke?"

"Of course I am. Now come on and hand me that cross." Attentively Takeru went over and placed the cross in his friend's hand but jumped back when Daisuke grabbed his hand in pain. "Oh, I'm sorry Daisuke. I was just doing as you asked." Both Takeru and Hikari were worried about their friend until they started to hear him laugh.

"Gotcha. Man you should have seen the look on your guys' faces when I did my little act there. Boy was it classic." The emotions of Daisuke's friends quickly changed from worry to anger.

"That wasn't funny Daisuke. That was a cruel joke you just did." exclaimed an angry Hikari but also glad that he wasn't really hurt.

Stopping his laughter Daisuke calmed back down. "I'm sorry but I just couldn't really help myself. I apologize." Getting back to the matter at hand, he placed the cross that he still had and started to press it all over his body. "See you guys it's just like I told you before. As long as I have this necklace on I can't be harm, let alone be killed."

It seemed as though what he was saying was finally sinking in for his friends as they were more than surprised. Takeru would be the first to get over the shock. "This is fantastic Daisuke. Do you realize with that necklace you can walk down the street like the rest of us sun loving people?"

'Trust me, I have thought about it on more than one occasion." He suddenly changed the expression on his face from cheerful to serious. "However, I won't be doing that after today."

"What are you talking about?" questioned a confused Takeru. "I don't know if you remember but the sun does come out on a daily bases."

"It isn't that. The reason is that this necklace is too dangerous to be in the hands on any vampire, good or bad. That is why tonight I will destroy the necklace and don't you guys try changing my mind."

Expecting to here some sort of argument to come he braced himself for it, only it never came. "If that's what you wish to do then do so." spoke Hikari with a soft and caring voice. "I may not agree with your decision but it isn't really one for me to make so why don't we skip all the waiting and destroy it now?"

"Not at the moment. I appreciate your guys' support. It's just that there's still something that I want to do before we get rid of this. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to do that thing now. I'll see you just before sunset."

Before another word could be said he walked out the door leaving the others behind. "What do you think is that thing he was referring to?" Looking at the door where her friend left, Hikari put in her two cents. "I have a pretty good idea what it is."

-/-/-/-/-

"Who's there?" asked a young woman she heard a knock at the door. "It's me sis, please open the door."

Recognizing the voice the woman quickly unlocked the door to see the guest on the other side. "Oh Daisuke, this is a pleasant surprise. May I ask the reason for this unexpected visit?"

"All will be explained in do time Jun. Is mom and dad home?" "They're in the kitchen getting dinner ready. Come on in and join us." She started to head towards the kitchen until her brother called out to her.

"Uh…there's a problem with that." Turning around she saw him still outside the doorway. To help explain, he placed a hand on the doorway but it couldn't go in the apartment. "Oh, how forgettable can I be? I forgot that you can't enter a person's home unless you get invited by a person who lives there. So, come on in. I invite you in." Slowly he stepped in where nothing happened. "Now with that out of the way let's go see mom and dad."

Getting no argument from him, they went to the kitchen to see their father sitting at the table reading the newspaper while their mother was standing over the stove cooking dinner with her back towards them and so far neither of them noticed their entrance. "Who was that at the door Jun?" "It was someone that we know mom and you guys will be surprise by who it is." Turning their attention away from what they were doing, they gasp in surprise when they saw their son.

Forgetting her stuff on the stove their mother ran over and pulled him into a loving hug. "Daisuke, my darling son. It's so good to see you."

"Come on honey let the boy go before you suffocate him." Letting go, she look down in embarrassment. "Sorry about that. I guess I got a little carried away there."

"No problem, mom. Besides, needing to breath isn't something that I need to worry about." Daisuke exclaimed as if it was nothing important.

"That's right; you don't need to breathe to live. In that case allow your mother to give you another hug."

Thankfully for Daisuke his sisters intervene. "Please mom, I think that you have done enough hugging today. Now why don't you let him tell us why he's here?"

It was then that everyone's attention was put squarely on Daisuke. "Wait a minute, who said that I need a reason to see my family?"

All three of them gave him a skeptical look. "Come on brother, you may now be a creature that bumps in the night but that still doesn't mean that we can't tell when you're hiding something."

Realizing that there was no point in denying it anymore Daisuke gave up trying to lie. "All right, you got me. Why don't I discuss it over dinner?"

"My goodness, I left the food on the stove. I hope that it isn't ruined." Rushing over Mrs. Motomiya went to check on the food with the others having a quickly laugh over it.

Dinner turned out great as all of them talked a variety of things. When the subject on why Daisuke came by in the first place he told them all about the necklace and what he was planning on doing later. "I must say that is something son and I see that you've adjusted to your new life."

"Thanks dad. I'm just glad that you all are okay with what I've become." Even though he didn't want to show it, Daisuke was hoping that his family wouldn't basically disown him.

"Why wouldn't we bro? I'll admit it was a little hard to take in at first but we're your family and nothing will change that." It was obvious that Daisuke was touch by his family's kind words. "Changing the subject, are you sure that you want to destroy that necklace?" asked Jun. "I mean with you wearing that you would be basically invincible."

"That would be true but that is why I want to go through with this. If I did start using it on a regular bases I would start to become overconfident which could get someone that I care for to get hurt and I couldn't live with myself if that happened."

"Man, you've become a much deeper person than when you were alive." joked Jun in the hopes of lighting the mood and it seemed to have worked. "I guess it took be being 'killed' to be more insightful."

Just when the family gathering was getting more entertaining, the front door was busted open as several armed men came running in and surrounded the entire Motomiya family. They forced them to go to the living room and despite the fact that Daisuke could've easily dealt with them, he held himself in check since if he resisted his family might get hurt in the process.

The sound of footsteps were suddenly heard as a man wearing a large dark trench coat and an old style hat came walking in and stood in front of his captives. "Ah, so this is Daisuke Motomiya. The vampire with a soul and has been making a name by taking out all those evil beings that have come his way. I must say that I'm not that impressed."

"Well, if you think that then why don't you keep these guys out of it and allow me to show you have impressive I can be." said Daisuke as he did his best in controlling the anger that was rising deep inside him.

Ignoring him, the apparent ring leader of the whole thing looked at the other Motomiyas. When he caught sight of Jun he grabbed her chin and examined her more closely. "My, you do have an attractive sister. Fortunately it looks as though she inherited the good looks of the family."

"Keep your hands off my sister!" He was about to make a move until the goons pointed their guns at his parents causing him to stand back.

The leader of the group saw that it was time for him to get to the business at hand. "I'll get right to the point on why I'm here. You happen to have something that I want and I am here to get it. Now hand me the necklace of Asmara or your sister will become just like you, if you know what I mean."

Knowing that he was in a serious situation, Daisuke had no choice but to do as he was told. Reaching around his neck he took off the necklace and reluctantly handed it over to the man where he let go of his sister. After making sure that it was in fact the real thing he motioned his men to begin leaving the apartment till he was only one left.

"Well, I must say that this was an entertaining meeting but at last it must come to an end." Walking off he began to leave until he suddenly stopped and turned around. "Oh, before I go I want to leave you with a little memento from me, Balthazar."

Reaching into his trench coat, he pulled out a small object and stuck it to the wall before leaving. Inching over the Motomiyas went to examine the item that was left behind. Getting a closer examination Daisuke saw a timer with the number ten on it and it was counting down. "Everyone get down!" Moving quickly he ran over where he grabbed the item and toss it through the window, just mere seconds before it exploded.

"Is everyone all right?" "We're okay Daisuke. Just a little shaken up." answered Jun. After a closer inspection it was confirmed that both of their parents were indeed fine.

"Who were those people brother?" On the verge of going on the warpath, Daisuke looked out the window where he could see explosion cloud disappearing. "I don't know Jun but when I do I'll find them and make them pay for what they have done"

-/-/-/-/-

"Do you think he's all right?"

"I'm sure that he's fine Hikari. Besides, he's practically invincible with that necklace on. Anyways, he isn't someone who would do something crazy." Soon after he said those words, Daisuke came bursting through the door with a very ticked off look in his eyes. He immediately went over to Takeru to get the information that he needed.

"Takeru, what do you know about a vampire named Balthazar?"

"I don't know that much. What I do know is that he's a powerful vampire who's said to be over two hundred years old. Why are you asking all of a sudden?"

"Because he came and paid a visit to me and my family." Daisuke answered with anger in his voice.

"Are you serious? I mean are you sure that it was him?"

"He said his name was Balthazar and I could sense that he was a vampire, so I'm pretty sure that he was the real deal. He also took the necklace from me. Now are you going to help me find him or not?"

Takeru was taken back by the venom that was in his friend's voice. It took him a second to answer. "O-Of course I'll help. Just give me an hour and I will get the info that we need." He ran out of the house leaving Daisuke and Hikari behind.

Completely ignoring her, Daisuke went over to his weapons cabinet and started to choose the weapons that he was planning on using.

"Daisuke what are you planning on doing when we find out where Balthazar is staying?"

Not even bothering to turn around to reply he answered her. "Isn't it obvious? When I find him, I'll kill him and anyone else who is associated with him."

"Please Daisuke, I know that you're obviously upset by what he tried to do with your family but you can't let it could your better judgment." "Now isn't the time to try and teach me some moral lesson Hikari. I can deal with them trying to kill me, it isn't the first time and it certainly won't be the last. But I'll be damned if they use my family as a way to get to me."

"Fine, you may not listen to reason but I'm going with you to make sure that you don't go too far."

Pulling out a large rifle Daisuke looked at her with the same determine look that he had before. "Very well then, do as you want. Just don't get in my way or I might mistake you as the enemy."

-/-/-/-/-

Later that Day…

"Are you sure that this is the right place?"

"I'm sure of it Daisuke. All my sources have said that some vampire with a lot of money has made a place for itself here." answered Takeru.

The three of them were currently in front of a fabulous mansion. "Well, if this is indeed the place then let's go on in and take care of business."

Before he could go more than two steps he was stopped by Hikari. "But aren't you forgetting something? You can't enter a person's home until you're invited by someone who lives there."

"Fortunately that rule doesn't apply here." By the confuse looks that he received he went ahead and elaborated on it. "That rule doesn't work here because it only implies to humans and secondly, the people that lived here are no longer with us."

"You mean that they're dead? But how can you be so sure?"

"I can smell the remains of human blood in the area and seeing as though this place doesn't look like it has many visitors I believe it's from the owners." Cocking his rifle he turned to his friends. "Okay you guys, I want you to carefully sneak in while I take the high road."

Not waiting for a reply he ran to the mansion where he then leapt to the second story balcony and entered through the jointing window.

"We better hurry up and do our part of the plan." Once again Hikari stopped someone from moving, this time being Takeru.

"Wait a minute Takeru. Don't tell me that you're going ahead with this."

With a heavy sigh he answered her question. "No, I'm not okay with this plan. I know what Daisuke wants to do and I hope that he doesn't go through with it."

"But what if he does try to kill everyone in the building? I mean, Balthazar is one thing but all those goons of his are human and we can't let him have human blood on his hands."

"I know. That's why if he tried to sink his pointy teeth into anyone's neck I'll knock his lights out." He further explained by lifting up his wooden bat.

Seeing that they couldn't waste anymore time they cautiously entered the mansion and fortunately they hadn't encountered any trouble. They finally arrived to a closed double doorway. Slowly they opened the doors which lead to an aisle way that went around the whole room and two separate stairways that went to an amazing room that resembled a ballroom. Each of them quickly hid behind some stone pillars as they peered in to see six men in lines of two and it appeared as though they were waiting for something or someone.

The answer came when a door from the other side of the room opened and entered a man who obviously had to be Balthazar. After doing a small examination of his men he went to stand in front of them. "First off, I want to congratulate all of you for a fine job you've done. You were definitely worth the money that was asked for." To show their appreciation all the men let out a cheer and holler. "Now that we've gotten rid of that little Daisuke disturbance we can go ahead with my plan without any trouble."

As soon as those words were said one of the men fell to the ground in a heap. He wouldn't be the only one as two more were dealt in the same manner as they went to check on their fallen companion "Seach the area. Find where those shots had come from." Searching all around, Balthazar and the three remaining men searched for the intruder. "There he is. Open fire." Pointing to a darken area of the room stood Daisuke with rifle in hand.

Once they sighted him the men drew out their hand guns and opened fire. Moving quickly Daisuke got out of the way and continued to do so for a minute. Coming to his aid, both Takeru and Hikari came out of hiding to deal with two of the men.

With them dealing with them, Daisuke had the chance to confront Balthazar only to have the last remaining goon to step in-between them. He pointed the gun at Daisuke and pulled the trigger only for it to come out empty. Realizing the situation, both of them threw their guns aside, ready to go at it hand to hand.

The goon was the first one to act as he started to perform several martial arts maneuvers which was for nothing more than to intimidate. But when he stopped he was dealt with as Daisuke knocked him out with one solid punch to his face. "Well, I must say that I'm somewhat surprise that you're here." commented Balthazar as there was no one left to stand in-between them. "I thought you would be kindling with the rest of your family."

That little remark caused Daisuke to look at Balthazar with a piercing glare. "Sorry to disappoint you but I'm still alive and kicking. Well, as much alive as I can be under the circumstances." Coming over, Takeru and Hikari stood behind their friend since they were able to take down the two remaining goons.

"Tell me something." asked Daisuke. "Why did you go through all this trouble to get one necklace? I mean, the necklace of Asmara is no ordinary necklace but there has to be another reason for doing all this."

"You would be correct Motomiya. Indeed, the necklace of Asmara is rare and valuable but there is another thing beside the obvious. Inside the jewel that's connected to it contains a liquid that can be use to make a serum to allow any vampire who drinks it to be impervious as if they were wearing the actually necklace. Imagine if I were to mass produce that serum and sell it to anyone that would be willing to pay for it. I would become one of the richest people in the world."

"Well sorry to break the news to you but that won't be happening." Going for his belt he pulled out a wooden stake and without warning threw it right into Balthazar's heart.

Expecting him to be turned to dust, they were shocked when he just smiled and removed the stake from his heart. "Nice try Motomiya. Under different circumstances that move would've worked. Unfortunately for you it didn't." Reaching under his shirt he pulled out the necklace Asmara.

"As you can see that you can't hurt me let alone kill me."

With seriousness in his eyes, Daisuke turned his attention towards his friends. "Takeru, Hikari. Could you please get of harm's way? This is something that I need to do on my own."

Doing as he asked the both of them went to watch from the second level of the building. "Now that they're out of the way, what do you say we settle this?"

Instead of answering him with words Balthazar took off his trench coat so he was wearking only a black muscle shirt and pants. Taking that as a yes both men didn't waste another minute as they two charged at each other.

Neither one held anything back as they went blow for blow without showing any sign of letting up. The fight turned when Daisuke was tossed into a stone pillar. "Give it up Motomiya. There is no way that you can beat me."

Spitted out the blood that was in his move, Daisuke got back to his feet. "We'll just see about that won't we?" Waiting until Balthazar was closer he put him again the pillar and after taking out his collapsible sword, stabbed him right in the heart.

Just like last time with the stake, Daisuke's sword did nothing except for pinning Balthazar to the pillar. "Hasn't it sunk into that feeble mind of yours? I can't be killed as long as I wear this necklace."

"Then allow me to remedy that problem." With his free hand, Daisuke yanked off the necklace. Looking at the necklace now in Daisuke's hand then the sword that was still stabbed into his heart it didn't take long for Balthazar to realize what that meant.

Before he could say a word he turned into a pile of dust. Turning his attention to a different direction Daisuke walked over to what were Balthazar hired guns who the majority of them were coming to. "Your boss has been dealt with and if you know what's good for you you'll leave this town and never comeback or you might wine up like him."

To help them get a better understanding he changed his face to his vamp form. "Do we have an understanding?" Nodding their heads they turned around and left." Collapsing his sword back into the sleeve of his jacket, Daisuke looked up to Takeru and Hikari. "Let's go home."

-/-/-/-/-

"So…what are you going to do know?" questioned Takeru. They were at Daisuke's house sitting around his desk with the necklace of Amara in the middle. "I mean, you can still destroy it but before you do that you can take that liquid that's inside it so you can become invincible.

"You do have a point there my friend. This will take some time to think it over." Less than a minute after Daisuke grabbed a stake from his desk and with the blunt end of it he smashed it onto the necklace, breaking it into tiny pieces. "Decision made and followed through."

"What did you do that for!" asked Takeru in disbelief.

"I did it Takeru because it was necessary. That thing was too dangerous to be in anyone's hands and that's including mine." Gathering all the pieces of the now destroyed necklace he gave them a glance. "To once again to be able to walk in the sun has always been a dream of mine." Without another thought he tossed them into the trash.

"But that is all that it can be a dream. I must remain in the shadows doing whatever I can to make a difference."

"It's amazing that someone who has to live in darkness can bring so much light to those around him." said Hikari in a touching tone.

"This is my gift but it's also my curse and I am the one that must live with it." Going over to the door he put on his jacket. "Well, time to go back to work." Opening the door he went out to go on patrol.

"Do you think he did the right thing Takeru?"

"I like to say yes but I can't Hikari. He just threw away an opportunity to have a somewhat normal life. What kind of man would do that?"

"Not an ordinary man that's for sure. But from a man who is destined to do great things." remarked Hikari as she looked towards the door that Daisuke walked out of.

* * *

First off, many of you probably saw that this chapter was somewhat similar to Angel's season one episode, 'In the Dark'. I'll admit that I did use that episode as afloor planfor this chapter but hopefully you could see that I didn't rip it off. If you have issues with this then mention it in a review or simply just don't read my story since it's your choice to read it or not. 

Another thing I want to say is that I'm surprise at how much you apparently liked my idea of having Daisuke's family finding out that he's a vampire. I'd just like to inform you that his parents will appear again in later chapters but mostly in cameos if anything. As for Jun, she'll play a part in some later chapters but those won't be out until much later in the series.

Well, with all that said, I leave you to put in a review about what you felt about the chapter. Until I update the next chapter, see ya.


	3. Her

Finally, after a couple of weeks I have at last updated this story. Again I want to say thanks for the reviews that I have received for this story. Truly I appreciate them all. That's enough of the praising, let's get to the story. One thing though, I don't own digimon._

* * *

_

_Sometimes when you look back on a situation, you realize it wasn't all you thought it was. A beautiful girl walked into your life. You fell in love. Or did you? Maybe it was only a childish infatuation, or maybe just a brief moment of vanity.  
Henry Bromel, Northern Exposure, The Big Kiss, 1991_

Chapter 3:  
Her

"I don't know if I should be here."

"Oh come on Daisuke, why don't you try and enjoy yourself? It's a party after all." exclaimed Hikari. They were at a party being held by their friend Samuel Bentson. He invited Daisuke and his friends to show his gratitude for the work that they have done for him. Everything was going fine except that Daisuke was feeling uncomfortable.

"I'm telling you Hikari, my track record at parties hasn't been that good. The last one that I attended didn't turn out so well."

"I know that. Remember I was there." she replied as she recalled the day that they reunited with each other. "Why don't you try and mingle with some of the other guests? You never know, you might get some new friends out of it."

"I don't know about that. I'm not that good in meeting new people. Besides, they'll just run for the hills if they ever saw my mean bumpy face."

Before anything else could be said some dashing looking man came walking over to them. "Excuse me good sir. Do you mind if I ask this lovely lady for a dance?" Hikari was indeed flattered but seem to be apprehensive in answering.

"Go ahead Hikari. Go and have some fun, I don't mind." Getting the okay she was lead to the dance floor, leaving Daisuke to stand by the wall like a wall flower.

"'You sure you don't mind Daisuke? Oh, I don't mind Hikari. Go ahead and leave me on my lonesome." he muttered to himself. "What do I do now?"

Becoming thirsty he went to the snack bar to get a drink and as he was there he bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see where I was going."

"That's okay. I wasn't looking either." responded the person that Daisuke bumped into in a feminine voice.

Lifting his head he caught his first glimpse at who he collided with. It was a woman about his height. She had short black hair that went halfway down her neck which helped to bring attention to her green eyes that resembled jade. The outfit that she had on was a classy but at the same time casual dress suit that just went past her knees.

"Hello there, my name is Huroko Suzuki. What's yours?"

Her voice sounded almost heavenly to his ears as it caused him to stare. He soon regained his senses as he shook her hand. "The name's Daisuke Motomiya. I once again want to apologize for bumping into you. I didn't make you spill anything on yourself did I?"

She just giggled at his obvious nervousness. "No I didn't spill anything and like I said before, it wasn't entirely your fault since I wasn't looking either. Why don't we just say that it was both our fault and leave it as that?"

"Very well, I'll go along with that."

For the next couple of hours the two of them talked about all sort of things and having a great time. Fortunately Daisuke was able to avoid talking about his 'alternative life' by either twisting the truth around completely making stuff up.

They were having so much fun that they didn't notice Hikari coming over. "Hey there Daisuke, are you ready to go?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Obviously Daisuke didn't know what his friend was talking about.

"It's almost midnight and mostly everyone has already left. Remember, you did tell me that you wanted to leave about this time."

"I guess I must of last track of time talking to this lovely lady. Oh, where are my manners, Huroko Suzuki, this is Hikari Kamiya. Hikari, this is Huroko."

"So, you're the lady that Daisuke has told me so much about. I'm honored to meet you." Sticking her hand out, Huroko waited for Hikari to do the same. "The feeling is mutual."

Accepting the show of friendship Hikari shook the newcomer's hand but was caught by surprise when the newcomer's gripe became tighter. Pulling her hand free she looked at the lady with a confuse gaze. "Well, are you ready to leave Daisuke?"

"Yes I am but do you mind going home on your own? I happen to promise to take Huroko home."

"But I rode here with you. How am I supposed to get home without a ride to get there?" Hikari was a little shocked about the change in Daisuke's attitude.

"I guess that is a problem." Reaching into his pocket he took out something and handed it to Hikari. "Here, take the keys to my car and drive it home and just bring it back to me tomorrow. I'll just walk Huroko home instead. It shouldn't be that bad to do." Before she could get a word out Daisuke was already leaving with his new lady friend following close by. Just before they left, Huroko gave Hikari a smug look as if to say, 'look at who he belongs to now.'

-/-/-/-/-

"This night didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would be." exclaimed Huroko. They were walking down the streets heading towards her apartment. The place that they were walking through appeared to be a rough neighborhood but thankfully nothing happened. However that changed when three sleazy looking men stepped in front of them.

"Well, look at what we have here guys." spoke the apparent leader of the three. The other two simply snickered. "Be smart and hand over all your valuables."

Not being intimidated, Daisuke just brush them aside. "You don't know who you're missing with so just leave before you'll regret it." As he was passing them, one of the men shoved him down to his hands and knees. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Why is that? Are you going to do something to stop us?"

Daisuke just smiled at the man's stupid attempt of being tough. "As a matter of fact…yes."

Moving quickly he got back up and grabbed one of the men by their jacket. Tossing him away he was jumped by another one from behind but he dealt with him quickly as he tossed him over to his fallen companion. With those two out of the way Daisuke turned his attention to the last remaining person. When he caught sight of him he was shocked to see that the leader of the three had Huroko in front of him with a knife pressed against her neck.

"Now listen to me very carefully buddy. You stop your assault on my friends or this little bitch here will have a new hole to breath from."

"That's where you're wrong." Going vamp he ran over and got the guy away from her before any harm could be done. Getting rid of the guy's knife he brought him close. "You listen and listen well. If you smart you and your friends will get the hell out of here or I'll beat you so bad that even your own mothers won't be able to recognize you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-Ye-Yeah, sure." In particle fear he ran off with his two friends following close by.

With that out of the way, Daisuke turned his attention to Huroko who caught sight of his face. Realizing what she was staring at he turned away and concealing his face. "Don't look at me. Just go on your way and don't look back."

Instead of leaving like he expected she came over and turned his face back to her. "I don't see anything wrong. All I see is the face, a different one granted but the face of the person who took it upon himself to protect me." Those words seemed to relax Daisuke as he returned his back to normal.

"Why don't we continue on to my place and on the way you can tell me about the _real_ you." Continuing on their walk he told her the truth about him and fortunately Huroko was real open to it. Finally they reached her apartment.

"Well, I guess this is where we say so long. See ya later." As he was about to leave he was stopped by Huroko grabbing his arm.

"Who said we had to say goodbuy now? Come on in and we'll have a couple of drinks." Daisuke wanted to say no but for some reason he couldn't.

"Okay. I mean it's only a couple of drinks. What could be the harm in that?" Allowing himself to be dragged inside and after a while one thing lead to another but that is better left unsaid.

-/-/-/-/-

"Where can he be? I mean, where could he possibly have gone?" questioned Hikari. Both she and Takeru were at Daisuke's house to discuss about something only to find that Daisuke was nowhere to be found.

"What's the big deal if he's not here? Can't he just have sometime to himself?" asked Takeru as if it was nothing really important.

"There isn't a problem with that but he should've left a note or something. On another subject, where were you at the party?"

"I was just socializing with all the lovely women who were there. That was some night I had. With all those numbers I got I could make my own phone book."

"You're a real lecher you know that?" Takeru responded by sticking his tongue out.

"Maybe he's with that girl you told me about. Perhaps the two of them had a little 'happy hour', if you know what I mean."

"That's nonsense. They just met each other and besides, Daisuke isn't one to do such a thing." Hikari didn't know who she was trying to convince, Takeru or herself.

At that moment they heard the sound of singing from outside and it sounded like whoever was singing was coming closer. The door opened to reveal Daisuke was the one who was singing. "Good morning you guys. Isn't today just a beautiful day?" His friends looked at Daisuke in confusion.

"Uh, are you okay buddy? You don't seem like yourself." asked a bewildered Takeru who was still a bit freaked out by his friend's actions.

"Of course I'm okay Takeru. I'm just so at ease because I had a great night with a fantastic woman."

"So does that mean you actually 'did it'?"

Daisuke had a huge smile on his face. "I won't answer that question but I won't deny it either."

As the two of them shared a laugh, Hikari for some unexplained reason was hurt by Daisuke's sudden infatuation with this new girl but quickly hid it before it was noticed. "Well not that we got that out of the way what are we going to do now?"

"Sorry guys I can't stay. I have to meet Huroko in a few minutes to take her to the movies." remarked Daisuke as he headed for the door.

"Are you serious? Didn't you just leave her place a while ago? So why are you going out again so soon?" Hikari asked.

"Because I want to, that's why." answered Daisuke with a bit of anger in his voice. "What's wrong if I want to have a good time? Don't I deserve it Hikari?"

"O-Of course you deserve it. It's just that you're taking this awfully serious with someone you just met just last night."

"Well, I'm sorry if you've got a problem with that but it's my decision on what I do with my life not yours. Now if you excuse, I'm leaving." With those words he left, slamming the door behind him.

"Man, what was up with that? That isn't like Daisuke to go all mad man." exclaimed Takeru, who like Hikari was surprised by Daisuke's outburst.

"I'll agree with you on that Takeru. There's something not right about this, I can just feel it."

-/-/-/-/-

"So why don't you tell me about some of your past relationships?" Huroko fidgeted with this question for a while before answering.

"There's nothing to really talk about. I did have a boyfriend but he dumped me a few months ago."

"Sorry if I brought up any bad memories." said Daisuke, as he felt bad for bringing up the question in the first place.

"That's okay. What about you? Has there been any special girl you had in your past?"

"I've never been a real dater in both lives. However, there was this girl who I wished to be with but it wasn't meant to be. Besides with what happened to me today I'm not interested in any woman, with you as the exception of course."

"I'll take that as a compliment. But what incident were you referring to?"

"Oh, it was nothing really. My friend Hikari, who you met at the party, said that we shouldn't be moving our relationship like it is."

Unbeknownst to Daisuke she slowly pulled out some strange medallion attached to a chain. "Well maybe your friends should learn to not butt in things that don't involve her." _"And maybe I have a way to teach her that lesson."_

-/-/-/-/-

"Takeru is that you?" Shortly after Daisuke left, both Hikari and Takeru stayed to look over some stuff. Currently Takeru went out to get some food while Hikari stayed behind. Looking to the door she saw no one. Thinking that it was all in her head she turned to go back to her work only to be freaked out when she saw Daisuke sitting in her chair. "Oh, Daisuke, you scared me."

For a while Daisuke just sat there with a emotionless look on his face. "Uh, are you still upset with what happened earlier today?"

He remained silent for a moment then let out a small smile. "No, of course not mad at you. That's all water under the bridge."

Hikari couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. I don't want any hard feelings between the two of us." Looking back to him she saw that he was nowhere in sight.

Turning around she was once again was scared as Daisuke stood right in front of her. "God, can you stop doing that?" Now unlike earlier, Daisuke had a more sinister smile on his face.

"Now why should I do that? I happen to enjoy seeing the look of fear on your face." Getting a little freaked out by her friend's unusual behavior she slowly began to back away from him.

"What's the matter Hikari?" asked Daisuke as he slowly took a step forward each time she stepped back. "Don't tell me you're afraid of me?"

"N-No. Of course I'm not." She continued to step away until she was backed up against one of the file cabinets.

"Well, if you're indeed scared, then let me give you a reason to be."

Doing as he said, Daisuke made his face go vamp. "Maybe you should've thought twice about butting into my relationships." Reaching over he was about to sink his teeth into Hikari's neck he collapsed to the ground.

"That was close. Thank goodness Daisuke still has his tranquilizer gun from that Balthazar incident thing a while back." Standing by the weapons cabinet was Takeru with the tranquilizer in hand. Looking down at Daisuke she saw that there was a dart sticking out of his back. "Care to explain what that was all about? I mean, you did have a heated argument with each other but that doesn't mean he should try and take a bite out of you, literally."

Rubbing her neck, Hikari looked down at the body of Daisuke. "I don't know. He seemed like himself at first. Then all of a sudden he acted like a totally different person. Also, I remember him saying something about getting involved in his relationships. Maybe that has something to do with it."

"That could be the reason but it doesn't sound like something he'd do." They suddenly had there attention to Daisuke who was stirring slightly. "What do we do with him? He could still be not himself."

Reaching over Hikari grabbed one of Daisuke's arms. "I have an idea. Give me a hand with him so I can get that plan in motion."

-/-/-/-/-

"Ow, did anyone get the number of the truck that hit me?" Slowly Daisuke opened his eyes and checked his surroundings. He immediately realized that he was in his room and judging by the sunlight coming into the room it had to be close to nightfall. "Man, I don't know what happen but I don't care. I have to get up."

However when he tried to get up he couldn't since he was tied down to his bed by several layers of heavy chains. "Ah, so you're finally awake?" Turning to the doorway there stood Hikari and Takeru. Both of them came over but kept a safe distance with Takeru having the tranquilizer gun close in hand.

"Care to explain to me why in the hell I'm chained up to my own bed?"

"Well, you gave us no choice after what you tried to do to me earlier." answered as she instinctively grabbed her neck.

"What are talking about? What did I try to do?"

"You were acting like some kind of psycho and tried to nibble on my neck if you know what I mean."

"I have no clue what you're talking about." spoke Daisuke in complete confusion. "The last thing that I can remember is having dinner with Huroko, then the next thing I know I'm tied up to my bed."

Hikari and Takeru looked at one another in confusion. "Excuse us for a moment since we need to talk about something. So just sit back for a bit." The only answer they got was a nasty look from Daisuke.

"What do you think Takeru? Think he's telling the truth?"

"It is a possibility. He did mention on having a memory gape. Maybe Huroko put some kind of spell on him because face it, Daisuke harm those he cares for no matter how upset he is with them."

"But what reason could she have for doing all this?"

"That's what we need to figure out. "We need to find Huroko and break whatever hold she has on him."

"That sounds like a plan to me. I'll go find where she lives and in the meantime you go back and tell Daisuke that he has to say chained up until this is all over with."

Before Takeru could have the chance to refuse, Hikari had already ran off to find the needed information. _"That's my luck. I think I rather deal with a group of vampire then go back in there and tell him the news."_

-/-/-/-/-

"So it seems as though my little subterfuge has been discovered." With a wave of a hand the image of Hikari and Takeru disappeared. In a dark and secluded room was Huroko kneeling in the center of a pentagram that was surrounded by candles. "They believe that they can break my hold on their vampire friend?" Reaching into her pocket she pulled out the same medallion she had earlier. "I still have plans for him and no one will stand in my way."

Waving her hand again a small cloud of smoke appearing in front of her and in that cloud was a sleeping Daisuke who was still chained up. "Ah, so my little dead man is asleep? How sweet. It's a shame that he has to get up but he has work to do."

-/-/-/-/-

Back at Daisuke's place he was still confined in his room for nearly the entire day. He was currently resting since he could do nothing until his friends were able to do their thing. Unfortunately, his rest became uneasy as a voice kept speaking to him.

"**_Wake up Daisuke. You have a job to do."_** A picture of a man around his age appeared in his mind. **_"Go find this man and kill him. Don't let anything stand in your way in completing your mission."_**

Opening his eyes Daisuke immediately turned vamp and broke all of the chains off like they were nothing. It seemed as though he was in some kind of trance as he ran out of the house, searching for the person that he was told to find.

Thirty Minutes Later…

As soon as he escaped from his home, Daisuke quickly went on the hunt for the man that he saw in his mind. Traveling from rooftop to rooftop he quickly found the person. He had red hair, with green eyes and tan skin. The outfit that he was wearing was a denim jacket with a black shirt underneath and matching jeans.

At the moment he was walking down a nearly deserted street that only a few other people on it. When there was no sign of any obstacles he jumped from the rooftop to the street a little away from his prey.

Walking casually over he tried to make conversation. "Hey there, how's it going?"

"Uh, hey there yourself." answered the man in surprise.

"Oh, where are my manners? The name's Daisuke Motomiya." He put his hand out in a sign of friendship.

After a while the man accepted it. 'Travis Dean. So is there something you wanted?"

"Nothing in particular I wanted. I was just wondering if you know someone named Horoku Suzuki."

"As a matter of fact, I do or to be more precise, I did. She was my old girlfriend from a month ago. It was a good relationship at the start but then she started to become more possessive and she wanted to move things too quickly for my liking."

Nodding his head Daisuke continue to play along. "That's understandable. I mean, why rush in such things. How did she react when you told her about slowing things down?"

Travis started to get a strange vibe about telling this person he just met something personal but continued anyways. "When I talked to her about it she went absolutely crazy. She started yelling that we were meant to be together and wouldn't allow anything to keep us apart. Seeing that things were going way out of hand I broke up with her. However, I always get this feeling that she's somehow watching me."

As the two continued to talk they walked further down the street where there was not a single person around. While this was going on, the voice that was in Daisuke's head continued to talk to him. **_"Kill him! Kill him now. Make him like you."_**

Following the voice's words he started to slow down so he was walking behind his unexpecting prey. Realizing that his newly acquired friend was back up, Travis turned around and saw Daisuke standing there with his head down. "Hey, are you okay man?"

With his head still lowered he answered with no sense of emotion in his voice. "You shouldn't have left her."

"You're kidding me? Didn't you hear what I said a few seconds ago? The girl was psycho and I for one am glad to be rid of her."

"You won't be for long." Lifting his head, Daisuke looked at him but instead of his ordinary face he now had his vampire face. Not wasting a moment he threw Travis against the wall and sunk his teeth into the man's neck.

-/-/-/-/-

"That's it. That's the way." Still in her apartment Huroko watched on in another one of her image clouds as Daisuke was on the verge of biting Travis' neck.

"Everything is going as I planned. Getting that vampire to become head over heels for me, slowly putting him under my mind control spell and then having him go after my backstabbing love. When Daisuke turns him into a vampire I will use the same mind spell to get him back and no one can stop me."

"Don't be so sure about that."

Turning around Huroko saw both Takeru and Hikari in the room with both of them carrying a sword and judging by the looks on their faces they were unpleased. "As so the friends of the vampire have finally come to stop me."

"Quit the talking and release Daisuke from the spell you have on our friend." spat Hikari with venom in her voice. "My word, isn't the little lady angry? Could it be because I tried to kill her with her own friend? Or could it be because I was able to give him the pleasure that she could never give him?"

That comment apparently struck a nerve with Hikari as she ran forward with her sword in position to attack. Unfortunately she didn't get close as she was stopped in her tracks by a wave of Huroko's hand. "Do you think I wouldn't be ready to take you on in my very own home?"

Waving her hand she sent Hikari flying back to the wall. 'I won't allow anyone to prevent me from getting what I want. Not you or your friend."

It was then that she realized that Takeru was nowhere to be seen. "Where is he? Did he just run off?"

"Think again bitch."

Turning around she was met with the blunt end of Takeru's sword, knocking her out. Running over to Hikari he checked to see if she was okay. "You okay?"

Shaking the feelings of discomfort she got back to her feet. "Yeah, I'm just a little sore." She looked over to Huroko's fallen body. "That takes care of her. Now we need to find what she used to control Daisuke." Going over to her she saw a medallion close by.

Raising her sword up she drove it into the medallion, smashing it to bits. "Let's hope that's all it takes to bring Daisuke back to normal. It's a good thing that he's in no position to cause trouble."

-/-/-/-/-

As Daisuke snuck his teeth into Travis' neck he began to drink his blood. However, a second later he came to his senses and back away from Travis. "W-What happened?" Seeing the man on the floor and tasting the bllod on his lips, only one thing came to mind. _"Oh shit. This isn't good."_

-/-/-/-/-

Next Day…

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"For the last time Hikari, I'm okay. I should be asking you the same thing. You did receive a hard hit yesterday."

"Don't worry yourself over that. It was nothing." Despite what she was saying Hikari still had some stiffness in her body.

"She's telling the truth man." said Taleri as he entered the room. "When we got there she nearly went commando on that Huroko lady."

Somewhat shocked at his friend's words, Daisuke looked back at Hikari. "Is that true Hikari?"

Hikari began to stutter for an answer. "W-Well, yeah I did. You're my friend and I couldn't stand back as you were being controlled by some crazy witch girl. Now if you excuse me I have to go somewhere, so I'll see you later." Before another word was said she went out the door.

"Speaking of crazy witch lady, are we sure that Huroko won't try something like she did again?"

"As sure as we can be I'm afraid. Hikari and I destroyed every magical book and item that we could find in her place. It'll be sometime until she even tries something like that again. What about that Travis guy that she told you to go after?"

"Well, fortunately I didn't drink from him for long. However, he did pass out from the shock. I was able to get him to a nearby clinic to be on the safe side. Hopefully he won't cause us any trouble in the future."

"Maybe with this whole thing behind us we can get some rest." exclaimed Takeru.

"You want to know something? As Huroko controlled me I could somewhat see everything but couldn't do nothing to stop myself. Thinking back to all that went on it makes me glad that I'm not involved in a serious relationship with a woman because it might end up like this one."

* * *

Well, I hoe you readers enjoyed that chapter. If it wasa bit confusing for you then I'm sorry. Hopefully you understood enough to like it. Anyways, please leave a review about what you thought about the chapter, the story in general and any questions that you wish for me to answer. Until I put up the next chapter, see ya. 


	4. Remember

Here it is readers. The next chapter to this story and the series in general. In my opinion this was one of the chapters that I enjoyed doing and hopefully you'll think it'll be worth reading. Well, not to waste anymore of your time I'll allow you to read it and like usual, I don't own digimon.  
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_It's no accident that the church and the graveyard stand side by side. The city of the dead sleeps encircled by the city of the living.  
Diane Frolov and Andrew Schnelder, Northern Exposure, Lost and Found, 1992_

Chapter 4:  
Remember

"Are you guys ready for this?"

"Yes, we're ready Daisuke." answered Hikari. All three of them were up against a rundown building ready to fight against some vampires. "I don't know why you're so worried about this. After all, we have dealt with vamps before."

"That was different. These ones have been in a group for a while and we're going to be facing them in there home so they'll have the home field advantage. We have to take this as carefully as possible."

Getting in-between the two, Takeru spoke up. "How about we quit the chatting and take care of business?"

Agreeing the three of them cautiously walked down the hallways making sure that they weren't spotted. They soon entered a large room that had several beddings and all other type of stuff. "Apparently we've found these guys' lair and judging by the stuff that's here I can assume that there are a lot of them."

"Looks like it. But where are they?" To seemingly answer his question, several vamps jumped down from the rafters to the floor, surrounding the three of them. "I guess we lost the element of surprise."

"I guess so Takeru." exclaimed Daisuke. "Are you guys ready to fight?" Getting the nod from the others the three of them went into action.

Moving quickly they were able to take some of the vampires down. As time went on things seemed even as both Daisuke and Takeru were handling themselves. However, Hikari, who had less fighting experience then them, was struggling but was able to take down a few. What she didn't realize was that one of the vamps was sneaking up behind her. In a blink of an eye he grabbed her and sunk his fangs into her neck.

Hikari wanted to scream out but couldn't as her mouth was being covered. Slowly she began to feel the life draining from her body as she could hardly put up anymore resistance. Just as it seemed like the end for her, the vampire pulled away. "This isn't the end of my revenge for you and your friends. I want to make you all suffer and I know the best way to do so."

Sticking out his wrist he made a small cut on it and placed it against her face. Being too weak to resist Hikari allowed the vampire to shove his bloody wrist against her mouth and as if she was told to she began to drink the blood of the vampire. The last thing that went through her head was the sadistic laughter of the demon that feed upon her and was currently feeding on. _"Takeru, Daisuke. Where are you?"_

-/-/-/-/-

"Man, that was some workout." exclaimed Daisuke as he and Takeru were surrounded by piles of dust that once were there opposition.

"I'll agree with you on that. You weren't kidding about how hard it would be to take out a nest. We're fortunate that we were able to do it as well as we did."

"But you guys were right. It was a wise move that we all went on this mission together and I must say that we all did a pretty good job. You, me and Hikari... Speaking of Hikari, where is she?"

It was then that they realize that their friend was nowhere in sight. Fearing the worst they headed out of the room to search for their missing friend. They didn't have to search long as they found her kneeling over a vampire and to their horror was drinking upon its blood.

Moving quickly the two got the vamp and dusted him but they had bigger concerns at the moment. The trail of blood on her kips was noticed immediately and to their dismay they spotted two bite marks on her neck. Turning to one another they both had the same thought going through their head. _"This is not good. This is definitely not good."_

-/-/-/-/-

"What are we going to do about this Daisuke?" That was the immediate question on his friend, Takeru's mind. It was early morning and they were currently at Daisuke's place with a bitten Hikari lying in a bed in the other room. "I mean, she's barely clinging onto life and she essentially sired by that goddamned vampire before we had the chance to stop it." The truth was hard thing to deal with but there was no way around it. "You know just as well as I do that if she dies she'll become one of those soulless creatures too."

"Do you think that I don't know that?" yelled Daisuke in frustration from the situation. Taking a couple of deep breaths he allowed himself to calm down. "Given her condition I figure that she has a day, two at the most before her spirit leaves this world. Once that happens she won't be alive like you Takeru. Instead a soulless demon will take possession of her body, with the soul objective of killing and feeding."

Neither of them said anything as they let the reality of the situation sink in. Finally, Takeru ask the question that they didn't want to ask. "I get all that Daisuke. But the question is what will we do when that moment comes?"

"We'll worry about that when the times comes. For now, let's try to make whatever time she has left easier on Hikari." Walking down the hallway the two of them reached the room that held their dieing friend. "Takeru, could you possibly go to Hikari's place and get a couple of her things? Maybe if she had some of her stuff close by it might make things easier for her."

Knowing that know wasn't the time for any arguing; Takeru nodded his head in understanding but gave a warning to his friend before he left. "Remember Daisuke. She doesn't have much time left. So you might have to end her suffering before anyone else does."

With him now gone, Daisuke reluctantly headed into the room. When he entered he immediately saw Hikari as she lay on the guest bed, too weak to really sit up. Her head was turning to the side as she watched the sun from the nearby window with an indifferent look on her face.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" It was a stupid question to ask but there was nothing else that came to mind for Daisuke.

"Lousy." answered Hikari without turning her head towards him. From where he stood he could see that she was speaking with much strain in her voice.

It pained Daisuke to see his friend in this condition but kept up a brave front in the hopes that it may ease the tension that was still in the room. "That's not surprising after what you went through." Eventually he gathered courage walking over he sat on the edge of the bed and to someway put his friend at ease he lightly patted her leg. "But don't you worry. Everything will be fine and you'll be back to your old self again."

Finally Hikari turned her head to look at him. "You're lying. We both know that things are not going to be fine. It won't be long until I become a nighttime only girl." Putting on a obvious fake smile she continued. "But hey, you never know. It may turn out for the best. I was never been a morning person anyways and with my becoming immortal I won't have to worry about getting any wrinkles."

She was trying to talk it off but it was apparent that she was just putting up a façade. "I can look young forever if I wanted to." No longer being able to keep up the charade any longer, Hikari broke down into tears. "I don't want to die Daisuke. I don't want to die."

Not bearing to see her like this, Daisuke brought her into the most comforting hug that he could muster. "I'm so sorry that this is happening to you. I'll do my best to make your last moments as painless as possible." _"And that includes that you don't become a soulless creature."_

A few hours later, Hikari eventually meet her end and all that Daisuke and Takeru could do was to wait until the unwelcome event to occur.

-/-/-/-/-

Twelve Hours Later…

"It's time Daisuke." informed Takeru. "We can't hold this off any longer. We need to do this now."

Reluctantly Daisuke agreed with his friend. There wasn't any point in putting this off. Reaching into his coat he pulled out to wooden stakes. Handing one of them to Takeru they to the room where their friend spent her last remaining moments alive.

Instead of seeing what was their sweet and caring friend that they knew was now what appeared a more sinister and twisted looking version. It was hard for them to believe it but as she sat their on the bed and looked at them with those cold eyes they realize that the thing in front of them was not their friend.

"Well nice seeing you guys. I am so flattered by the jester." Even the way that she spoke was not like her as she talked with a darker tone. "What's the deal with the pointy sticks guys? Do you think that I might do some deep necking?" Getting off the bed she walked around the room, stopping short of the window which gave her a clear view of the setting sun.

"What a magnificent thing the sun. Gives light to those who seek it. But for those, such as yourself Daisuke, hide themselves from it and it shuns us in return."

"Hikari, maybe you should lie back down and get some rest." Stepping closer Takeru went to put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to bring her back to bed and perhaps get the chance to use the stake. Seeing the danger, Daisuke tried to warn him but was too late as Hikari grabbed his arm and flung Takeru across the room. Moving in he tried to stop her but she quickly dealt with him as well.

Taking the opportunity to escape she burst through the window and Daisuke was about to follow her but halted as he kept away from the sunlight that still remained. Seeing that he couldn't go after her he went to check on Takeru.

"Man, I guess this means that she's has turned. But how could she run into the sunlight without bursting into flames?"

"That's because she hasn't become a fully turned yet. Until she has her first kill she only has some of the strengths of a vampire and none of their weaknesses. We mustn't allow her to get that kill."

Heading out of the room he opened the weapons cabinet and started to pull out a variety of weapons. "Are you actually serious about this Daisuke? You're really willing to kill Hikari?"

Pulling out a broad sword Daisuke looked at Takeru with a determined look. "You must remember, Takeru that the Hikari that we knew is gone and all that's left is a soulless monster that if we don't stop will leave a pile of dead bodies in its path. Now are you going to help me or not?"

Instead of answering with words, Takeru grabbed a crossbow and a pack of arrows. "Let's get this over with before I change mind."

-/-/-/-/-

At a popular nightclub the youth of Kyoto was dancing and chatting with one another looking to have a good time. In this occasion, as a man in his early twenties was sitting at the bar trying to find some lady to hook up with only to come up empty handed. That is until a lovely lady, clad in leather sat beside him.

"Hey there good looking. Why don't the two of us leave this place and get better acquainted with one another?"

To say that the man was surprised by this woman's forwardness would be an understatement as it took him a couple of seconds for him to come up with a reply. "Uh, okay then. But before we go can I at least know your name?"

The lady just gave him a flirtatious smile. "Why of course. The name's Hikari."

Quickly the two left the club, being real close along the way. Soon, they were in what appeared to be a empty level of a car parking building. "What's the deal coming here? Is your car here?"

Turing around Hikari began to kiss him on the neck and even giving him some slight nibbling. "I just thought we should be at some place more private as not to have anyone bother us." Not wasting another moment the two started to make out and they were really getting into it until she started to nibble on the man's neck a bit harder

"Hey now, don't be so rough. I'm one for the rough stuff but that's too much. Do you mind lighting up a bit?"

"As a matter of fact…I do." Lifting her head she now had on her vampire face and she wasted no time and sunk her teeth into the man's neck. However, she wouldn't have time to get some blood as she was tackled to the ground by Daisuke. As those two struggled, Takeru helped the man up and got him out to safety before returning to see his two friends facing off against one another.

"My how rude of you. Don't you know that it's rude to interrupt someone when they're trying to get a bite to eat?"

"Well sorry for the interruption but I'm afraid I can't allow you to go through with that Hikari."

Even with the seriousness of the moment, Hikari didn't seem to be fazed by the situation. "Oh, what's the matter? Is poor Daisuke upset with the new me? Or perhaps he's going to go ahead and actually kill me."

Gripping the wooden stake in his hand Daisuke readied himself. "If it's necessary I will. I'm not even going to bother in saying that somewhere inside you is the real Hikari and there's a chance to bring her back. I'd be just deceiving myself. In reality you're just a killing machine who forced itself into her body and I'm willing to rid her of that problem if I have to."

Once again the two went at each other, not pulling any punches. Unfortunately it looked as though Hikari was getting the upper hand. When she knocked him aside he was replaced by Takeru who tried to come from the blind side but was quickly knocked away as she tossed him into one of the large stone support pillars. Taking this momentary distraction to his advantage, Daisuke charged forward and grabbed onto Hikari. Using his momentum the two of them fell over the protective barricade and fell down two stories to the floor.

Following up on the opening he placed himself over her with a stake over her heart. He was about to stake her until he caught sight of Hikari's face. It was no longer had the vampire form but the one that belonged to her late friend. "I-I can't. I don't want to do this."

Stepping back he allowed her to get back to her feet. "Oh, poor Daisuke, what's the matter? You can't do it can you?" Becoming overconfident she started to get closer to him.

"I said I didn't want to. I never said that I wouldn't." Driving the stake forward he stabbed it right into her heart. Just before she turned dust, Daisuke saw that for a very brief moment a grateful look appeared on Hikari's face. May you rest in peace Hikari." Throwing the stake to the ground he walked away from the friend that was nothing more than a pile of dust.

-/-/-/-/-

It had only been an hour since the fight with the demonic Hikari and both Daisuke and Takeru were still feeling the after effects from it. "I know that you're upset about what transpired Daisuke. So am I. But you can't blame yourself."

"I'm not." responded Daisuke with a detached voice. "I had no other choice but to put a stop to that thing. Whether I liked it or not doesn't matter, I just wish there was some way to change things from happening."

"Well, there could be a way for that to come about. But it's a little risky."

"Let me be the judge of that. What is that thing you were referring to?"

"Okay then, there is this thing called the Conduit. They're somewhat of a connection to the Powers That Be, who are some supernatural beings who oversee everything that goes on this plain of existence. It's a long shot but they might be able to help us with our situation."

"Then let's try them again." Getting up, Daisuke headed up for the door but was stopped by Takeru.

"Whoa, now wait a minute Daisuke. I think you want to reconsider about going to the Conduit. It's some serious stuff that you don't want to go up against."

"I don't care if it's the Conduit or the Powers That Be. If they somehow bring back Hikari then I'm willing to take the chance."

That statement got through to Takeru as he gave in. "All right, I'll take you to the place but don't say that I didn't warn you."

-/-/-/-/-

"Are you serious about this?"

"Of course I am Daisuke. Why would I make something like this up?" The two of them were in some underground cave with some sort of stone formation and a stoned up doorway on the side.

"You're telling me that the doorway that leads to the Conduit is underneath a post office?" If he didn't like the strange twist of irony Daisuke would probably have thought that it was funny.

"Well, in a way it does make sense if you think about it." Starting up a small fire in the center of the stone formation Takeru tossed some kind of dust into it and began some type of chant. As he chanted the stoned up doorway began to glow. "All right, when you get in there speak your peace and leave. Don't take anymore than you have to."

Nodding his head in understanding, Daisuke went through the glowing doorway. In a flash of white light he disappeared only to appear in a large white marble room with the only source of light coming from four torches that scattered across the room. "Hello. I'm here to talk to the Conduit." Nothing happened for a while and he soon thought that the whole thing was all for nothing until a voice spoke up.

"What is the reason that you seek us?" The voice was a mixture of multiple voices at once but the source of the voice(s) could not be found.

"I came to ask if you can bring my friend back to life as she once was."

"I came to ask if you can bring my friend back to life as she once was. If so could you please do so?"

"A vampire, with a soul no less is asking for the restoration of a single human life? Intriguing?"

"Listen, I don't care if you're intrigued or not." Daisuke's patience was wearing then but quickly pushed back down his irritation. "Can you do what I am asking?"

There was no response for sometime and Daisuke's was becoming irritated even more. ""We are able to do such a thing. But why should he do such a thing?"

"She was my friend and she didn't deserve what happened to her." To help his plea he fell to his knees. "Please. I beg of you. Give my friend her life back."

Nothing was said on either side. Daisuke stayed kneeling down hoping that the Conduit would do as he asked. Suddenly he was pulled back up by some invisible force and pushed him back into a giant stone slab. He tried to move away but couldn't as something was holding him onto it.

Then, without warning, parts of the stone slab started to protrude out and into the shape of crosses. When those cross shaped stones made contact with his skin, Daisuke screamed out in pain as they began to burn into his skin. "W-W-What is the meaning of this?"

"We're just doing as you ask." the Conduit simply answered. "We told you that we could restore your friend's life but there's a price to pay for that to happen. For someone to bring brought back from death another must take their place."

Out of nowhere another stone slab appeared in front of Daisuke and popping out of it were numerous spikes that were ready to stab right into his body. "Are you still willing to give up your own life so that your friend can have a second chance at life?"

Even with the feeling the burning pain from the crosses that were against his back, Daisuke kept his mind focused on the mission at hand as an imaged of Hikari flashed in his mind. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get it over with." Taking that as a yes the Conduit sent the stone spikes straight at him. _"This is for you, Hikari."_

Closing his eyes, Daisuke braced himself for what seemed to be his upcoming death. After a few moments of nothing happening, he opened his eyes to discover that neither the stone stakes nor the crosses were nowhere around and that he was able to move around freely again. "Congratulations, you have passed."

Suddenly, a smoky like figure appeared but you couldn't get any clear view of them. "Passed? What do you mean I passed?"

"We had to see if what you asked for was good and that your heart was pure. That is why I put you through that ordeal and you chose correctly. Now I'll grant you your request."

"Thank you." Completely forgetting about what he just had to go through, Daisuke couldn't help but feel grateful. "I'm deeply greateful for this. How are you going to bring her back?"

"I'll turn time back to just before your friend was bitten. Thus, this day and everything that took place will be erased as though it never happened."

"If you do that then how will I be able to stop this all from happening all over again?" Daisuke couldn't think of the logic behind this plan.

"When time is turned back you and you alone will remember what transpired. Are you willing to take that burden? The burden knowing that anytime one of your friends could wine up like this before. Also note that this is a one time deal and this can't be asked to be done again."

Without even wasting a second, Daisuke gave his answer. "If it still means that I can save my friend from death then I'll do it. Let's do this."

Even though he couldn't prove it, Daisuke felt as though the figure was actually smiling. "You are indeed a noble warrior Daisuke Motomiya. May the Gods shine on you." The whole room started to be consumed in a blinding white light. Soon it got so bright that Daisuke had to close his eyes and waited to see what was going to happen next.

-/-/-/-/-

When the light faded away he was no longer with the Conduit but back at the vampire nest that he and the others were at just a day before and everything was exactly like it was the first time that it happened. Both him and Takeru were taking on a swarm of vampires and just like before they were handling themselves quite well. Remembering what he needed to do he left Takeru to deal with the remaining vamps, knowing that he could take care of himself.

Rushing out of the room Daisuke headed to where Hikari was found and saw that she was on the verge of being attacked by the same vampire as before. Realizing that he wouldn't make it in time he had to come up with something quick.

"Hikari, get down!" Like a javelin he threw his sword at her direction. Fortunately she heard his warning and ducked in time as the sword went piercing into the vamp's heart causing him to turn into dust.

"Man, thanks for the save Daisuke but next time can you warn me faster?" Seeing his friend alive and still human was too much for him to contain his happiness as he went over and brought Hikari into an affective hug. "Uh, Daisuke, it's not like I don't appreciate you saving me and all but could you let me go?"

Regaining his composure Daisuke let her go. "Sorry about that. I'm just glad that you're okay." It was that time that Takeru joined up with them.

"Damn, that was heavy fighting back there. Why did you all of a sudden leave Daisuke? By the look that you had on your face it was appeared to be something like life or death."

"Let's just say that I didn't want something to happen that I would regret later." Daisuke answered with a knowing smile.

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There it was people. I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and got you interested in what's going to be happening in later chapters. Please be considerate by leaving me a review about what you felt about this chapter and any questions that you have about everything. 


	5. New Ally

With another update comes another chapter. Here it is readers, the latest chapter to my 'Choices of Heroes' story. I hope you guys like it. Now, for the disclaimer, I don't own digimon.

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_People grow through experience if they meet life honesty and courageously. This is how character is built.  
__Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 - 1962), My Day_

Chapter 5:  
New Ally

It seemed as though it was a calm and peaceful day in Kyoto as everyone was going to where they were going. In one particular case, a black hair man in his early twenties running down the street, apparently in a hurry. "I have to hurry. I can't be late for this interview."

Continuing to run down the street it appeared as though he would make it to wherever his interview was at until he heard some commotion in a near by alley. He was going to ignore it but his curiosity got the better of him as he got closer to get a better look.

When he got closer he saw two dark cloak men going against some brown haired man with a black coat on who was in front of an old man, apparently trying to defend him. From what he could tell the brown hair man was handling himself quite well against the two other men and soon was able to knock both of them out. "There you go mister. You're safe now."

"Thank you, good sir. I'm deeply grateful in you saving me. May I ask what your name is?"

"It's Daisuke. Now you better head off. I'll deal with these guys." Nodding his head the old man left the alley not seeing the man that had saw everything as he hid himself from view.

Turning back around he saw the man known as Daisuke went over to one of the men he had took out, who was starting to come to. Leaning over he grabbed the man and brought him in close to his face. "Now why don't you be a good boy and tell me why you were after that man?"

"I'm not telling you anything and there's nothing you can do that'll make me talk." spat the man in defiance.

"Oh, is that right? Let's just see about that." From his vantage point the onlooker couldn't see what Daisuke did but when the guy saw Daisuke's face he became deeply afraid.

"All right, I'll tell you everything." The onlooker couldn't hear what was being said but it didn't matter as he realized that he was going to be late for his interview if he didn't hurry. Forgetting about what was happening in the alley he ran to where he had to get to.

-/-/-/-/-

"I'm here for an interview with your boss. I believe I have an appointment." Looking down at the appoint book the lady at the front desk saw the man's name.

"Ah yes, Mr. Ken ichijouji. You're just in time for your appointment. Mr. Jackson will see you now." The man, now known as Ken headed to the room where Mr. Jackson's office was at and after knocking on the door he entered the room.

An Hour Later…

"Well, I must say that I feel good in saying welcome to the company Mr. Ichijouji." Sticking his hand out Mr. Jackson went to seal the deal which Ken did as he shook the man's hand.

"Thank you sir, I really appreciate this. I promise you that I'll do my best in not failing you." stated Ken in gratitude.

"I'm wure that you won't. Now, can you please excuse yourself, I have another appointment that I must attend to." Getting up from his seat, Ken headed out of the office just as another man was entering.

Nothing was said as the two pass each other but Ken felt that there was something off about the man. Leaving the room he went to close the door but left it ajar enough for him to hear what the two were talking about. "So Jenson, what's the news about our acquiring the old man?"

"I'm afraid the news isn't good Mr. Jackson. Our men were on the verge of capturing the target when an unforeseen obstacle entered the picture."

Hearing this bit of news intrigued Jackson's interest. "You don't say? May I ask who or what this obstacle was?"

"Yes we do. From what we were able to get from our men were able to discover that it was a person by the name of Daisuke Motomiya?"

"Ah, I heard of him. He's someone who has been said to protect the helpless from evil to make the world a better place. What a fool. He actually believes that he can actually make a difference in the world."

"We shouldn't underestimate him sir." informed Jenson. "Let's not forget that he was able to deliver a devastating blow to the Takenaka Corporation in which they still haven't recovered from."

"Of course I haven't forgotten. In a way he did us a favor. With the Takenaka Corporation out of the way we have the opportunity to become the leading manufacturer for other worldly dealings."

From his hidden location Ken was shocked to hear what had been said by his new employer. He didn't have long to think about it as Bentsen began to speak again. "Sir, may I ask about what we should do about getting the old man that got away?"

"Forget about him. He isn't one that we really want. It's the two children that he was supposed to make contact with that are the true targets. With their abilities in our possession it'll make us unstoppable." Not wanting to hear anymore Ken left not only from his hiding place but the building entirely.

When he finally got far enough distance he stopped and tried to think things through. _"Oh man, what did I get myself into? I have to do something to stop them but how?" _It was then that he remembered them mentioning someone's name who stopped them already once before. _"What was that person's name again? Dai? Davis? Daisuke? That's it! Daisuke Motomiya. I need to find him and maybe he can find a way to stop them. The question is can I find him before it's too late?"_

-/-/-/-/-

"Are you sure that this is how you do it Daisuke?"

"Trust me Hikari. I've done this before so I think I know what I'm doing." informed Daisuke with certainly

"Okay, now I know that my body isn't supposed to bend that way." In the basement of Daisuke's home the two of them had spent hours practicing fighting moves. Deciding that was good for the day, the two of them rested up. "Man, I'm exhausted. I don't mean to sound ungrateful Daisuke but why did you have the sudden interest in training me?"

"Uh, because I thought it would be a smart thing to teach you." In reality he wanted to make sure that she wouldn't be killed like she was before he was able to turn back time to prevent it. Sometime later Takeru came down and inform them that there was someone upstairs that wanted to talk to Daisuke. Going upstairs they saw a black hair man who apparently had something important to say. "Hello. How may I help you?"

"You're Daisuke are you not?"

"Yes, that's me. May I ask who you are and why you specifically asked for me?" He didn't know what it was but Daisuke had a strange feeling about this.

"Oh, thank goodness I found you. The name's Ken Ichijouji and I have something important to discuss with you."

For the next hour Ken told them about everything he had heard and even what he saw in the alleyway before that. "So there's something else to deal with. What do you know about this Mr. Jackson, Takeru?"

"His whole name is Jamal Jackson and he's the C.E.O. of Jackson Industries. It's a big computer software company but has been rumored to be involved in black market stuff. Said to be only to the Takenaka Corporation."

"Interesting and why were you going to work for this company Mr. Ichijouji?"

"Please, call me Ken. As for your question, I was going to work for them as a computer programmer. I didn't know what I was getting into when I met up with them but I don't like what's going on." It was then that there was something that he wanted to ask. Before we continue with this discussion may I ask why you were fighting those two men in that alley?"

A set of nervous looks went between Daisuke and his friends. "Well, I just happen to be walking pass and saw what was going on and decided to step in. Now tell me, do you have anymore information about who they're planning on going after?"

"I'm afraid not." Ken regrettably informed. All that I got was that they were going to go after these two kids who who've been said to have some ability that would be useful to them. That's all."

"Then I guess that mean you'll have to get the information that we need." instructed Daisuke simply.

"You're kidding right?" questioned Ken in all seriousness. "If I go back and start to snoop around they'll get suspicious."

"Well, if you're so worried about getting in trouble then you shouldn't have told us about this. If you truly want to stop them then you have to take the risk. The question is, are you willing to take such a risk?" Ken's only response was uncertain stare.

-/-/-/-/-

Next Day…

Ken was once again heading back to the Jackson Industries building with a look of worry gracing over his face. Going over to his assigned desk he quietly went to work but when the close was clear he began to use his computer in an attempt to find the needed information. Using every computer trick that he knew, Ken finally was able to find the system that contained the files that he was looking for. Clicking on the wanted file he started to make a copy onto a floppy disk.

Once he was finish with the downloading he was ready to make his escape until he happen to notice another interesting file. Putting another disk in he began to download that file as well. After it was finished, Ken exited the system and tried to leave the building as fast as he could. But he was stopped by Mr. Jackson stepping in his way.

"Hey now, what's the rush?" Thinking of a reasonably excuse Ken said the first one that came to him that sounded believable.

"Sorry about leaving early. I unfortunately have a family emergency that I need to attend to. I hope you can understand."

"Don't worry about it. I understand. Trust me, I realize that family comes before work. So go ahead and hurry off to see your family." Not wanting to risk that chance of being found out, Ken headed out of the building with the two computer disks that he made.

-/-/-/-/-

"Well, does the disk have the info that you wanted?" asked Ken.

"Give me a minute and let me find out all right." answered Takeru who was on the computer checking over the contents of the disk. As soon as Ken left Jackson Industries he headed straight to Daisuke's place for them to examine the disk that hopefully had the information about the problem that he came to them about.

While that was going on, Daisuke went to sit beside Ken. "I presume that everything went well with your part?"

"Yeah, if you don't count being freaked out by bumping into my boss on the way out." A question suddenly popped into Ken's head. "I need to ask why you do this. Why do you go out and basically risk your lives to protect people that you don't even know?"

"We have our reasons." responded Daisuke. "Hikari wants to help make sure that no one will be use like she was almost was." Obviously he was referring to when the Takenaka Corporation sent a group of vampires after her as some message to him. "Takeru wants no one else to suffer like he had to." The suffering that Daisuke was talking about was how Takeru's person was murdered in cold blood. "As for me, let's just say that it's stuff like this that I've been preparing for."

"I still don't see why you would do things like this time and time again." Ken still couldn't understand why these three people would be actually willing to do these things.

"It really depends on what kind of drive you have to do this. You just have to find that thing that makes you want to put others ahead of yourself."

Before their conversation could continue any further, Takeru spoke up. "Hey guys. I think we've found what we were looking for." Going over to the computer they saw on the screen was a picture of a brown haired boy and girl, probably brother and sister. "I assume that those are the two kids that Mr. Jackson is after."

"You'd be right about that Takeru." spoke Hikari who had scrolled further down the screen. "Their names are Julius and Julia Santo, both are eight years old. The two lived with there parents in Odaiba until they started to show signs of unusual abilities."

Reading from where she left off from, Takeru continued. "When the two are together they are able to foresee events of the future. There you go guys, we found our reason."

"I agree. If someone were able to use those two's ability to their advantage it could lead to some trouble." remarked Hikari.

"Whoa, wait a minute. You got to be kidding." spoke Ken in totally disbelief. "This can't be real right? There's no way that this is actually happening."

"Trust me Ken, after you see the things that we've seen you don't get that surprise about these things." Switching his attention away from Ken he turned back to the computer. "Now, does it say when they're going to go after them?"

Scanning through the file Takeru had found the answer. "It says here that they'll be arriving at a private airstrip later tonight to meet with a person who'll teach them to better learn their power and from this picture it's the person that you saved yesterday, Daisuke."

"That gives us only a few hours to get ready." Going to the weapons cabnet, Daisuke grabbed the necessary arsenal. "Hikari, I want you to head off and meet up with the man. Keep him from the airstrip and tell him that we'll bring him the kids. In the meantime the three of us are going to get those kids and take care of anyone who gets in our way."

As the weapons were being handed out, Ken once again added in his two cents. "You're actually serious about going through with this? We don't even know what we'll be up against once we get there."

"Well, there's one way to find out and that's to actually go there." Looking over to him, Daisuke handed him a broadsword. "So, are you in or are you out?" Grasping the sword tightly, Ken hurried up to catch up with Daisuke and Ken who were already heading out. "I can't believe I'm actually going to go through with this. I must be nuts."

-/-/-/-/-

"How much longer do we have to wait?"

"We'll wait as long as it takes Ken." answered Takeru. For the last hour Takeru, Daisuke and Ken had been hiding out at the private airstrip, waiting to get the kids and stop those who were after them. Finally, signs of life began to appear when a figure walked onto one of the runways. "At last, we have someone here. I believe we have the head honcho here. What do you say that we say hello?"

Walking over to Mr. Jackson they snuck up behind him to the point where Daisuke pressed his sword against the back of Jackson's back. "What a surprise. I was just telling my friends that we might meet some interesting people while we were out and it looks like I was right?"

Not showing any sign of fear, Jackson turned around so he was now facing the three of them. "Well, what a surprise this is. Daisuke Motomiya, I presume?"

"My, I feel quite flattered. I guess my reputation has gotten around."

"It's to be expected after what you did with the Takenaka Corporation. I must say it was quite impressive." It was then that he realized that Ken was with them as well. "Ken, my boy, it's such a shame that you chose to betray us and join the enemy."

"Sorry to disappoint you but unlike you I have something called caring for others." spat Ken in detest. "Besides, how did you know that I told them anything?"

"Please. Do you think that we wouldn't know when someone hacks into our systems? We are quickly notified when certain files or programs are being checked out without authorization. It wasn't until we had our little run in that I discover what you did."

"So what if you found out? It doesn't matter seeing as there is three of us and only one of you."

Despite this bit of news, Jackson didn't seem that bit concern. "I wouldn't be so sure about that." With a snap of his fingers a dozen men that were similar to the ones that Daisuke messed with just two days ago appeared. "Did you actually think that I would come here alone? Now don't think that you'll have your way these men as you did last time Mr. Motomiya. This group is much stronger than the last two that you dealt with."

Checking out all those that were surrounding him and his friends, Daisuke looked at him with a impassive stare. "Is that so?" Out of nowhere he punched one of the nearest men which knocked him completely out. "They don't seem all that that tough to me."

With that, a fight broke out between all of them and despite being outnumbered, the fight was about even. During the fight, Jackson ran from the scene and with both Daisuke and Takeru currently having their hands full it only left Ken to go after him. Moving fast he was able to track him down to a empty air plane bunker. Looking around he couldn't find a trace of Jackson but knew that he was still inside the building.

"You know Ken, there's still time for you to change your mind." The voice belonged to Jackson but due to the echoing that the bunker was producing it was impossible to find where he was hiding. "All that you need to do is deal with those two interlopers and hand me those two kids when they arrive. What do you say?"

For sometime, Ken didn't say a word. "What do I say about that?" Turning around Ken punched Jackson right in the face as he was trying to sneak up behind him with a large wrench in his hand. " I say forget it."

In that one punch caused Jackson to be knocked out just as Daisuke, who along with Takeru had apparently dealt with the goons and behind him were the two kids that they had come to save. "Come on, let's go. We have some kids to deliver."

-/-/-/-/-

Next Day…

"So, how do you like your new job?" Daisuke asked as he put down a newspaper that had the headline, 'JACKSON INDUSTRIES GOES BELLY UP'.

"Man, it's great and it's all thanks to you." answered Ken who sat in front of him. At the moment they were the only ones at Daisuke's home. "How were you able to get me a job with one of Samuel Bentson's companies?"

"Let's just say that he was returning a favor." That was the only answer that Daisuke would give to him.

Nothing was said for a while until Ken brought up a topic that needed to be discussed. "By the way, here's something that you might want to see." Reaching into his coat pocket he pulled out a floppy disk and slid it across to Daisuke.

Picking it up Daisuke read the name on it which was 'Motomiya, Daisuke'."As I was getting the information about the kids I stumbled onto a file with your name on it. I downloaded it as well and let's just say that from what I read last night was very interesting. I mean come on, finding out that there are actually vampires in the world, let alone one still with a soul."

"It's not all that shocking. In fact I've heard that there have been two other vamps that were able to regain their souls. Their names escape me for the moment but it has happen. I'm just someone who wants to make this world a little bit better than it is." Becoming serious, Daisuke looked at Ken with a intense stare. "The question that needs to be asked is, were you able to find that drive to help make that a reality?"

Sticking his hand out, Daisuke waited for Ken's answer. He wouldn't have to wait long as Ken shook it. "I believe I found that drive."

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Hopefully you readers enjoyed that story. As you can probably tell I've added another character to the group. The reason for that is because if I didn't then things might of gotten stale between the main characters. Also, because some of you readers have been asking if I was going to have any of the other digimon characters in this story and I hope that answers your question. And don't think that was it, since as the story moves along there'll be more characters added but not for sometime. 

Now, please leave a review before you leave. I would really appreciate it.


	6. Noble Sacrifice

Finally I am putting up a new chapter to this story and I have to to say that this is going to be the final chapter to this particular story of the overall series. Consider it a early Chrismas gift to all those who have reviewed this story. Hopefully you readers feel like this is a good way to end it. Not wanting to waste anymore of your time, I'll end this with a I don't own digimon disclaimer.  
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_A man should not leave this earth with unfinished business. He should live each day as if it was a pre-flight check. He should ask each morning, am I prepared to lift-off?  
Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, Northern Exposure, All is Vanity, 1991_

Chapter 6:  
Noble Sacrifice

"Okay now, clench your fist a bit more and as you are coming forward with it remember to put your weight into the hit." instructed Daisuke. Lifting an arm up he readied to continue. "Now, let's try it one more time and put all your strength into it." Doing as instructed the trainee reared back and threw the punch but instead of hitting the open palm, they hit Daisuke right in the face.

"Oh gees, I'm so sorry Daisuke. I didn't mean to do that. Are you hurt?" Turning around he had a serious look on his face only for it to be replaced by a satisfied smirk. "Hey, I'm fine. Don't worry about it Hikari. Remember, I'm a vampire so the punch shouldn't hurt all that much." That wasn't the case however as he turned away and grabbed his hurt cheek. "You've progressed well in your training Hikari. It's only a matter of time until you'll be able to handle yourself against anything that gets in your way."

That bit of news really made Hikari happy. "I certainly hope so. I don't always want to depend on you and the others to protect me. Now with us currently having nothing else to preoccupy us there's nothing else for us to do but to get ready for whatever comes our way." Bringing her fists up Hikari got herself into a fighting position. "So, are we going to continue with my training or what?" Daisuke just smirk and went into a similar fighting pose.

-/-/-/-/-

While that was going on downstairs both Takeru and ken were basically sitting around doing whatever they could do to occupy themselves. "How much longer are they going to be down there?"

"Who knows Ken." replied Takeru with a bored tone. "A hour, maybe two. It all depends on how much they get done. Just be fortunate that we're not down there with them."

"Oh come on. What could possible happen if we were down there?" Before another word could be said both Daisuke and Hikari came walking up from the basement but for some reason Daisuke was walking awfully gingerly. "Dude, what's wrong with you? Did you get hurt?" Daisuke just gave Ken a look that was saying, 'I don't want to talk about.'

"Come on, I said that I was sorry." Spoke Hikari with a sympathetic tone. "I mean, it was an accident. It's not like I try to do it on purpose." Daisuke's only reply was casting a irritated stare her way.

"Could one of you please tell us what happen?" asked Ken who was started to become fed up with what was going on. With Daisuke apparently not wanting to discuss what happen, Hikari had no choice but to enlighten the others.

"Daisuke was teaching me some kicks and as I was trying a spinning back kick I didn't raise my leg high enough. To make a long story short, my foot made contact with his, um…" It didn't take long for Takeru and Ken to get what she was trying to say and both of them couldn't help but express their sympathy.

Patting his friend's back, Ken tried to comfort him. "Damn, man that sucks. I feel your pain man."

"I agree with Ken on that." added Takeru. That must've hurt like hell." Despite their best efforts, it was obvious that they were trying to contain their laughter.

"You have no idea how badly it hurt." exclaimed Daisuke with a slightly higher pitch in his voice. That was the last straw that broke the resistance that his friends had as they started to bust up in laughter. Even Hikari couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

Things calmed down when a man and woman both carrying some kind of bundle in their arms entered. "Pardon us for intruding but is the home of Daisuke Motomiya?"

"It is." answered Daisuke with his voice still a little tweaked. Letting out some small coughs his voice returned to normal then he started to talk again. "I mean, yes it is and I'm Daisuke. What seems to be the trouble?"

"My name is Koushiro Izumi, my wife Sara and these two bundles are our children." Moving from her seat, Hikari went over to the visitors.

"Ah, is it okay if I take a peak at the little tikes?" Getting the okay she began to remove the blanket from the child's face and when she did she stepped back in shock as the child didn't appear like any normal child. Allowing the others to see what the commotion was all about they saw that the child had blue scaly skin with the exception of his mouth and stomach. He had ruby eyes; a small horn on his nose and on the center of his forehead was a small yellow V. Seeing no reason to hide it, Sara revealed the other child who like the other one wasn't your usual kid.

The second child mostly resembled a white cat except that it was a bit bigger than any normal cat. Some of the other differences about it were that she had purple tips at the end of each ear as well as the end of her tail which also had purple strips going down the entire length of it and bright blue eyes.

"I believe it's easy to assume that you guys aren't those kids' biological parents. Am I right?" questioned Hikari in a non insulting manner.

"You'd be right." informed Koushiro. "My wife and I have been studying different demon clans and species in hopes that from what we learn we'll someday help humans to better understand the demon world."

"That sounds like a noble goal you have set for yourself. But do tell, what does that have to do with me?" asked Daisuke with a trace of interest.

"Well, during our most recent journey, who were at truce with one another? Everything was fine until two weeks ago when they came, the Scourge." When that name was spoken both Daisuke and Takeru had the expression of worry on their faces.

"They came like locus and slaughtered everything that they came across. We were fortunate enough to get away alive. The next day we came back and saw that everything was killed. Thinking that there was nothing left for us to stay for we were going to leave until we started to hear the sound a baby cry. Following the sound we discovered these two little ones. Not being able to just leave them, we took them as our own. Unfortunately, it seems as though the Scourge found out about it and has been coming after us. Then we heard about someone that could possibly help us."

Not fully understanding everything that was going on, Hikari asked the question that was going through her and Ken's head. "Excuse those less informative but who is the Scourge?"

"They're an army of pure bloodied demons." replied Daisuke with absolutely seriousness in his voice. "Their main goal in life is to completely wipe out the existence of demons that have any trace of human in them. They believe that it's a disgrace for a demon to have any kind of connection with the human race."

From where he left off Takeru continued the explanation. "From what was said by those that my parents were able to treat they kill anything or anyone that they're after or those who oppose them."

"Good God." muttered Ken.

""There's something not right about this." declared Daisuke. "Why would the Scourge, who has only gone after 'impure' demons be after those two kids?" It was then that the couple started to squirm. "There's something that you're not telling us is there?" Seeing no point in hiding it anymore, Sara decided to tell them everything.

"Not many know about this but ten years ago a company of the Takenaka Corporation began a genetics project. They wanted the DNA of two extinct demon species and it should be obvious what those two pieces were. Anyways, when they tried to clone by using the DNA that they had acquired it was unable to stay stable since there were many gaps in it. They were able to give up on the project when they realize that they could use traces of human blood to keep it from breaking apart. In the end it proved to be a success but when they tried to use them for destruction and mayhem, the species revolted and destroyed all the data that was gathered before going into seclusion. We though that no one else knew about the addition of human blood"

"Well apparently the Scourge knows about it and want to get rid of the whole bloodline as to make sure that the species won't live on." stated Daisuke.

"Please help us Motomiya." pleaded Sara Marshall. "Help us protect our children."

"Call me Daisuke and don't you worry. My and my friends will do everything in our power to keep you and your kids safe." Getting up from his seat he went to grab his jacket. "Hikari, I want you and Takeru to stay here and watch over them. In the meantime, me and Ken are going to do some digging."

Obviously Takeru knew what his friend was up to. "You mean that you're going to go out and see if you can find where the Scourge could be hiding out. Don't you think it would wiser for me to go with you instead of Ken? I mean, my contacts might be able to help us out."

"I don't think so." replied Daisuke as he was getting everything that he probably would need. "In the case that something happens I want you to get them somewhere safe. Besides, this is just going to be a scouting mission and hopefully we won't have to get involved in any fighting." _"Unfortunately it'll most likely that we'll be involved in one."_ thought Daisuke as he and Ken headed on out.

-/-/-/-/-

"I don't think this is a smart thing to do Daisuke."

"What do you mean Ken? I said this'll be just a scouting mission, nothing more and I meant it. We're just going to see if we can get any information and get out. That's all." Thanks to a trusting source, Daisuke and Ken were able to find out that the group that they were looking for were staying at some shipping boat that was stationed at the harbor. Moving around cautiously about the boat they happen to come across a opening to the boat's haul where a light was coming out form it.

Crouching down they peered over the side to see what was going on. "I think we found our problem." How right Ken was as they saw what seemed to be dozens of disfigured people walking about. They were like a army as all of them marching around like one unit. "Man, look at them. With that many down there how do you expect us to fight them, Daisuke?"

"If we play our cards right we won't have to." Of course Daisuke was being hopeful if anything.

"And if we have to fight?" asked Ken.

"Let's just prey that it doesn't come to that."

-/-/-/-/-

"My, aren't you a cuite." Back at Daisuke place, both Takeru and Koushiro were doing surveillance to make sure things were okay and in the meantime, Hikari and Sara were taking care of the kids. As Hikari was playing with the blue skin child, he reached up and grabbed her finger. "I was wonder. Do these two have names yet?"

"As a matter of fact, they do. This little guy's name is Vee and as for our female child, her name is Gato." They continued to play around until another question came to Hikari.

"After Daisuke and the rest of us deal with this problem where do you plan on going?"

"My husband's side of the family has this farm in Montana. It's small but it's secluded so we can gradually introduce these kids to the world. Hopefully in time we can come up with a way so they can go into the world without being stared at as freaks." Looking down she tickled the chin of Gato, which made the little furred creature giggle. "Getting away from the topic, is there anyone special in your life that you may consider in having children with?"

That question completely caught Hikari by surprise. "W-What? No. I mean, there is someone that I'm somewhat interested in but I'm not sure anything serious could happen between us." _"No matter how much I would like for there something to happen."_

"What a shame. But don't give up hope. It may happen one day. So, don't give up hope."

-/-/-/-/-

"What are we going to do now Daisuke?" questioned Ken. "There's no way we can't go down there and confront them."

"I know that. We just have to grab one of them and get the information from them. Being careful they search for someone so they can gather information and they finally saw two in one of the observation rooms. Using the old divide and conquer technique they knocked on the door which cause the one who was guarding the door to come out to see who it was. When he did he was quickly knocked out by Daisuke. Hiding the body they entered the room where the second man was working on a computer.

Much like with the previous one, the second man was quickly taken cared of with a simple blow to the head by Ken. "Why in the hell did you knock him out as well Ken?" asked a bewildered Daisuke. "We needed him conscious to ask him what we needed."

"Not necessarily. There is another way to get the information that we need and it's right there." Pointing over to the table he showed him to the computer that was still on. "Maybe I can get into their system and find out what they're planning."

"Do you think you can

Going immediately to work, Ken began to hack into the system. "I'm in." True to his word he got in and had full access to everything. "Now let's see what they got planned." Searching each file quickly he apparently found what they were looking for. "Daisuke, you may want to take a look at this."

Leaning over Daisuke read what was on the screen and when he saw what was in the file a very worried look went across his face. "We've got to get back to the others. And I mean now."

-/-/-/-/-

"What's taking Daisuke and Ken so long to get back?" asked Hikari mostly to herself. It had been over two hours since the two of them left and tension was starting to get to them. Returning from another surveillance sweep, Takeru went over to her.

"Relax. The two of them are on a very dangerous mission that has to be handled carefully." Thankfully those words seem to help calm Hikari a bit. Suddenly, the phone ran which Takeru went to answer. "Hello. Oh, hey Daisuke, how's the mission going?" For a while nothing was said until Takeru slammed the phone down. "Everyone get up. We're leaving."

Being taken back by the sudden outburst all of them simply followed behind him. "What's the deal Takeru?" Grabbing a two gage shotgun from the cabinet he turned to them. "That was Daisuke. He and Ken found the Scourge's hideout and they happen to find out what they're planning on doing. Trust me, the news isn't good. So I recommend that we get the hell out of here." Not waiting a second more, everyone hurried out the front door. Unfortunately, they wouldn't get far.

No sooner had they stepped outside, a swarm of hummers came barreling in with numerous of disfigured face soldiers coming out and stood in front of them in straight lines. Stepping forward the apparent leader of the group stared down at the group. "At last, we meet again Mr. and Mrs. Marshall. I must say that it was mighty difficult tracking you down and I see that you've found some company. Now hand over the children and we may let you live."

Placing himself in-between the soldier and the parents, Takeru pointed his shotgun right at the lead soldier's head. "Take another step forward and we'll be able to see that back of your head through the front."

Even though Takeru was serious about the threat, the lead soldier didn't seem the lease bit fazed. "That wouldn't be a wise move on your part. Seeing as how my men would shoot you and your friends the second you pull the trigger." Knowing that was telling the truth, Takeru reluctantly lowered the shotgun. "That's a very smart move on your part. Now, is there anything that you wish to say before we take the children?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." responded Takeru in a somewhat mocking tone. "And that is: heads up football head."

From literally out of nowhere Daisuke's car came charging in and took out many of the Scourge troops that were in the way. With that distraction going on, Takeru knocked the Scourge leader down with the blunt end of the shotgun. During the commotion the backdoor of the car opened. "Get in you guys." Hurrying, everyone got insid and as soon as they were all in, the car went speeding off. "Is everyone all right?" asked Daisuke as he drove.

"A little shaken but we're fine. Thankfully you showed up when you did." Looking through the back window, Hikari could see anyone following him. "Thankfully it seems as though we're in the clear."

Just as she said those words, the car was hit from the back. Looking back they saw that it was one of the Scourge's hummers that rammed them. It got worse when two more hummers came driving beside the first one. "Daisuke, do something."

"What do you think I'm trying to do Hikari? I guess I have to bring out the heavy guns." Knowing what he was talking about, Hikari and the others put on their seat belts in prepaeration of what was to come.

Putting the pedal to the metal they sped ahead with the hummers following close behind. The whole thing resembled a car case as they raced across the town. However, when they reached the deserted business destrict Daisuke and the others were barely staying in front. It wasn't that Daisuke noticed a narrow alleyway. Seeing what he was planning on doing Ken turned to him. "Don't tell me you're going to do what I think you're doing."

"You'll see. Now hang on everyone." Going at top speed he drove the car straight to the alleyway and fortunately it was just big enough that it barely through with the car scraping against the walls. Being taken back by the sudden move, the two other hummers made sharp turns to avoid the buildings but the third one was less fortunate as it collided into the building causing it to explode in a ball of fire. Escaping the alley, Daisuke drove off. "It seems as though we lost them." That would change as the two remaining hummers returned.

Coming up with another plan, Daisuke drove the car into a four story parking garage with their poseurs following close behind. Driving all the way to the top floor he spun the car completely around just as the hummers arrived. Getting out, the Scourge started to unload a large object to do something. Knowing what it was, Daisuke and Ken looked at one another and they immediately understood what had to be done. "Ken, take the wheel." Opening the door, Daisuke stepped out.

"Daisuke, what do you think you're doing?" asked Hikari with a question that was on nearly everyone wanted to ask.

"I'm staying here to keep them occupied so you guys can get out of here."

"Are you nuts! If you do that you'll most certainly be killed" exclaimed Koushiro Izumi.

"That most likely will be the case. But I don't care. As long as those kids get out of this safely then I'll be worth it."

"Not without me you won't." Following Daisuke's example, Takeru stepped out to join his friend.

"Oh, no you're not. This is something that I will do on my own." Even with the outright demanding of Daisuke, Takeru still stood his ground.

"And just how do you plan on doing that? Unlike you, I have a weapon." He lifted his shotgun as proof.

"I don't care what you have. Besides, who says that I need a weapon when I got this?" In an instant, Daisuke's face went vamp. "I'm doing this alone. Now get back in the car."

Becoming fed up with her two friends bickering, Hikari stepped in. "Will the two of you stop acting like a couple three year olds and get back inside the car. If we hurry we might be able to get away."

"Sorry but we can't do that Hikari. Get a move on Ken." Moving to the driver's seat, Ken shifted the car into drive and drove it back down the parking garage with Hikari yelling not to leave the two of them behind.

"Turn around Ken; we can still get them if we hurry." Hikari's pleas were apparently going on death's ears as Ken continued to drive and seem to have no intention on turning around. "God damn it Ken. Don't you care what happens to Daisuke and Takeru? If we don't go back they could die."

"I know that!" Ken practically screamed. "Believe me Hikari, I hate doing this as much as you do. But we have to make sure that the Marshall family gets to a safe place. We can only prey that Daisuke and Takeru make it out safely. That's all we can do for them now."

She hated to admit it but Hikari knew what Ken was saying was right. As they now entered the street and were driving away, she looked back at the roof of the parking garage. _"Daisuke, Takeru. Please be careful. The two of you are like my family and I don't know how I'd take it if you guys didn't comeback."_

-/-/-/-/-

"You do know Takeru that this is basically a suicide mission right?" stated Daisuke as he and Takeru readied themselves for the upcoming battle.

"I know that and I don't care." Takeru answered with hardly any trace of fear in his voice. "I've got everything that needed in place, so I can go without regret." Before Daisuke could ask what he meant by what his friend meant by that, the Scourge soldiers came after them.

Moving into action the two fought and was able to handle themselves against their opposition. "This is getting us nowhere." stated Daisuke as he broke the neck of a soldier. "No matter how hard we fight them, they keep on coming."

"We need to take out the leader." spoke Takeru as he fired at a soldier's head and quickly hitting another with the blunt end of the shotgun. "Go get the leader while I deal with the others."

Taking the advice of his friend, Daisuke fought his way through the soldiers to become face to face with the Scourge leader. "Now it's time that I deal with you." Despite thing not turning out like he wanted the Scourge leader retained a calm attitude.

"You actually think you did something today vampire?" Just saying the word 'vampire' made the leader sick as he literally spit the word out. "You're the absolute lowest of the impure. Someone that has demon in them and living inside what was once a lousy human."

"Well, I much prefer to be an 'impure' than some psychopathic demon that has a face that looks as though it went through a meat shredder."

"Do you actually think by allowing your friends to get away that you saved them? All you did was to delay their demise because when I activate our device it'll cover the entire city, killing anything that has any dreadful human blood in them."

"Now we can't allow that to happen." exclaimed Takeru who was pointing his shotgun behind the leader's head. "Why don't you be a good psycho and tell us how to shut this device off?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely let me think about it. …No." Pushing a button the device immediately began to start up. "It's going to be a glorious world once those who're not worthy of it are gone."

"Sounds like an interesting vision. Why don't we start with you?" Showing no sign of remorse, Takeru pulled the trigger, shooting the brains out of the Scourge's leader, killing him instantly. Going over he tried to shut down the device but it was pointless as the device continued on.

"We can't shut this thing off. No matter what I do it won't stop." Stepping beside him, Daisuke went on to explain what was going on. "That's because it's the way that they've designed it. This thing is called the Beckon and whatever has even the smallest trace of human blood will be killed almost instantly. It's powerful enough to cover the entire city and once activated it won't stop until it completes its job. Getting to the point, if we want to stop it before it does any real damage we must shut it off manually. Unfortunately neither of us will survive when we do this. In other words, we'll die."

"That's where you're wrong." Out of nowhere Takeru hit Daisuke in the head with his shotgun. "When this is done, look inside your desk. You'll find a video tape address to you and the others. Hopefully it'll explain why I'm doing this." Grabbing his friend's jacket he tossed Daisuke over the edge of the parking garage. Thankfully with him being a vampire he would survive the fall but would be out of action for the time being.

"_I'm sorry Daisuke. In time I hope you'll understand why I'm doing this."_ Turing back to the matter at hand, Takeru went towards the Beckon and despite knowing that he wouldn't survive this ordeal he started to disconnect all the cables.

-/-/-/-/-

"Damn. That hurt like hell." Forcing himself back to his feet, Daisuke looked up and saw that the light of the Beckon was starting to flicker. Seeing this Daisuke knew what it meant for his friend. _"Takeru, how could use do this? It was suppose to be me, not you. You're a fool. But you're also a courageous one." Moving as fast as his shaky legs could take him, Daisuke tried to hurry up to join his friend."_

-/-/-/-/-

Slowly but surely Takeru was succeeding in taking down the Beckon. However, as he was doing this, his skin was beginning to melt away layer by layer. In spite of the extreme pain that he was experiencing, Takeru continued on.

"_Farwell Daisuke, Hikari and Ken. Hopefully you all have the bests that life can offer. I'll be watching you from the other side."_ With one loud scream he pulled the last cable which resulted in the Beckon turning off. Unfortunately, when the light completely disappeared there was no trace of Takeru anywhere.

-/-/-/-/-

Later that Night.

After almost an hour, Ken and the others drove back to the parking garage to see Daisuke on the top floor with a broken lead pipe in hand and was standing in front of a now demolished Beckon. When asked about what happened he told them first off that the remaining Scourge soldiers left and most likely would never return after threaten to kill all of them if they ever were to comeback.

But when they asked about what happen to Takeru it took a while for Daisuke to come up with the best way to explain. When he was finally able to tell them what had transpired, his took the news pretty hard. Hikari fell to her knees crying a river of tears while between sobs saying that it couldn't be true. As for Ken, he too was stunned by the news but was able to hold back the tears as he let out a stream of cruses over the lost of a friend that he had recently come to know.

Not wanting to say another second in the dreadful place, they drove back silently to Daisuke's place. Shortly after getting there, the Marshalls said their goodbyes as well as their condolences for their lost comrade. Sometime later, Daisuke went to the back side of his place and was thinking back to what he and the others saw in the video tape that Takeru left for them.

  
Flashback to an Hour Ago.

Placing the tape into the VCR, Daisuke, Hikari and Ken waited to see what was on it. When an image appeared it was revealed to be Takeru. "Hello my friends, if you're watching this video then I have unfortunately passed away. Please don't be sad about my passing. I have no regrets in my life. Well, maybe perhaps not going ahead and laying a big old kiss on Hikari." That last part was mostly an attempt to lighten the mood of the situation. Fortunately it seemed as though it would, if only a little.

"You maybe wondering why I did this video and the answer to that question is a simply one. When we helped Ken with those children that could foresee parts of the future they showed me a vision of what would be my last fight. When I saw what was to come I chose to face it head on instead of running from it. I think you know the rest of the story."

It was then that Takeru's face turned to one of sadness. "Before I end this I have a few things that I wish to say. Ken, we may not have known each other for long but I still considered you a close friend. Hikari, I enjoyed all those times that we shared, both the good and the bad. Plus, you had a body that made me hot under the collar, just kidding. Last but not lease, Daisuke. I considered you almost like a brother after all the things we've went through. In a folder in your desk you'll find all the contacts and resources I had at my disposal. In closing, it was a pleasure knowing all of you. You were like a second family to me and I hope we don't meet again anytime soon." With that, the video ended.

End of Flashback.

-/-/-/-/-

"You're going to miss him aren't you?" Turning around he saw Hikari and Ken walking over to join him.

"I think we'll all miss him. He was definitely one of a kind. It reminds me of something I once heard. I don't know why but it just pops in my head. All ling things, every being that walks and breathes each has its own star…and when a life ends the star falls and disappears." Glancing up to the stars all of them spotted a star dimming away to nothingness.

"Even though I say that I believe that Takeru is up there somewhere watching us." Looking one more time to the sky, Daisuke lightly pounded his fist against his heart. "Goodbye Takeru. We'll see each other again someday."

* * *

First off, you readers may notice that this chapter is similar to Angel's season one episode, 'Hero' (which is one of my all time favorite episodes of the series). The reason why I did this is because one, I was unable to think of anything overly original and two, I believed that this was a good way to send off Takeru from the series. 

As for the reason why I killed off Takeru. I did it to show that not even the main characters could be killed and just in case some of you are wonder, I'm not going to bring him back like I did with Hikari in the chapter, 'Remember'. I'm afraid that this death is permenant.

Now, before I end this I wish to say thanks to all those who have read this series and leaving their kinds words with their reviews. In the not too distant future I'll have the third story of my series which at the moment is being called 'The Reasons for Heroes'. I hope that you check it out. Until then, see ya and once again thanks for the support and have happy holidays.


End file.
